AUSTIN, Texas— Today, Texas Land Commissioner and Veterans Land Board (VLB) Chairwoman Dawn Buckingham, M.D., is proud to introduce the next installment of the series highlighting the VLB's Voices of Veterans oral history program. This week, we highlight the service of Chief Petty Officer (CPO) Lee Reese who served in the U.S. Navy.
Reese decided to enlisted in the Navy in May 1969 after receiving a card in the mail asking him to return to his hometown of Fresno, California, and take a physical for the draft. He explained, “I didn’t want to wait and take a chance of going to Vietnam in-country.” His family was “very proud” of his decision to join the Navy.
He went to boot camp in San Diego, California, where he trained and led prayer groups, helping ensure the men attended church services. He became an Aviation Storekeeper, and in 1972, he was stationed aboard the USS Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Florida. Soon, they were deployed to the Mediterranean. When asked if his duties on the ship amounted to an eight-to-five, Reese laughed heartily.
As the Navy often promised potential recruits, Reese was able to “see the world,” and mentioned, “We stopped at Liberty Ports and I got to see some very interesting places. I’ve been to Barcelona, Spain, Palma on the Island of Majorca, Cannes, France, Nice, Monaco, Naples, Italy, Rome, Pompeii, Athens, Greece, where we went up to the Parthenon, and we were also on the Island of Rhodes.” When asked about his favorite destination, he answered, “Palma on the Island of Majorca” without hesitation.
He was in the Mediterranean until December 1972. When he returned to California on leave, he married his wife. He would remain in San Diego until 1975, when he reported for service aboard the USS Ranger, which traveled “to the Western Pacific, the Philippines, the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of Vietnam, and Hong Kong.” Throughout his travels and after being stationed at the now disestablished Barber’s Point Naval Air Station on the Island of O’ahu, Reese served as an Aviation Storekeeper, steadily gaining responsibilities until he eventually had around 12 people under his management.
After living in Hawaii for three years with his wife, they moved nearly five thousand miles away to Norfolk, Virginia. Here, Reese began serving on the USS Nimitz. While discussing his travels near Vietnam, Reese revealed, “We were in the Tonkin Gulf when President Nixon resigned. We were there to say, "even though we have problems at home, we can still do our job overseas.
While aboard the USS Nimitz, Reese was deployed back to the Mediterranean. He was there during Christmas of 1979 and had an incredible opportunity when they “went up to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome to go to midnight mass […] They opened the church two hours early to get everybody in, and you met people from everywhere!” He also recalled riotous memories of his own Shellback Initiation, a Naval tradition where sailors who have not crossed the equator, “pollywogs,” become “shellbacks” after their first equator crossing. This rite of passage could get wild and messy, and Reese remembered that one of the last things the newbies had to do was “go through the garbage shoot.”
Reese also recalled when they went to the Indian Ocean to assist with the Iranian hostage crisis. They met up with the USS Kitty Hawk, which supplied helicopters for rescue. Reese vividly remembered that after a “steel beach picnic” on the flight deck, “All of a sudden, here come all these people in unmarked flight suits. You didn’t know if it was an E1 or 07. They came aboard and took over part of our guest deck and put their gear behind some curtains so we couldn’t see it […] They had armed Marine guards at each door. They were the guys who were gonna go into Iran.”
When he awoke the next morning, he could tell something was wrong. Reese remembered, “Our captain, an outstanding C.O., told us the mission [Operation Eagle Claw] failed. The morale of the ship went really low. The only thing that kept us going was knowing that the Dwight D. Eisenhower was on her way to relieve us.” While their departure from the Indian Ocean was somber, Reese and his fellow servicemen were greeted in Norfolk on Memorial Day by an excited and grateful crowd of their family and friends.
Before retiring, Reese rose to the rank of Chief Petty Officer and made a career out of serving in the Navy. Military service also became a passion for his children. Reese proudly said, " My youngest, Timothy Allen, he’s a reservist. He has 20-plus years. He’s a Staff Sergeant. Our son Kevin was in the Texas National Guard, and in 2008 and 2009, he did a tour in Baghdad guarding the green zone.”
To listen to Chief Petty Officer Lee Reese tell his story, click the button below:
Chief Petty Officer Lee Reese's Story
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Veterans can email VoicesofVeterans@glo.texas.gov to tell their stories. Please note that the Veteran must be a resident of Texas at the time of their interview.
Voices of Veterans is a state agency's first Veteran oral history program. It records the stories of Texas Veterans through their time in service and after returning home from combat.
The VLB records interviews with Veterans over the phone or in person. Their interviews are then permanently archived in the Office of Veterans Records at the GLO, where they join the historical documents of other Texas heroes such as Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William Barret Travis.
Veterans' interviews are also available to researchers, historians, genealogists, and the public. These precious records inspire future generations and remind us of our Veterans' sacrifices.
To listen to the over 500 archived stories of Veterans documented through the GLO's Voices of Veterans oral history program, click the button below:
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Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, M.D., brings a lifetime of experience to the Texas General Land Office (GLO). In 2016, she became the first Republican elected to the Texas State Senate from Travis County and the first woman to represent Texas Senate District 24. She made history again in 2022, winning a statewide election to become our state’s first female Land Commissioner.