Saturday was a day more than 32 years in the making for the Reel family.
In southern Knox County a crowd gathered at the Wildwood Cemetery just off of State Road 61 in Verne.
All were in attendance to hold a special promotion ceremony for the late Jeffrey David Reel, a graduate of South Knox High School and the first Indiana soldier killed in action during the Desert Storm on February 20, 1991.
Private First Class Reel had spoken on the phone to his family the night before his death. He had told them he had earned a promotion to the rank of Specialist. But when he was killed in action the very next day, the promotion was all but forgotten for the next 30 plus years.
After Reel’s mother passed away last year in 2022, younger brother Fred and his wife Angie found letters that would bring into question the soldier’s actual rank.
Through months of persistence by Angie and with help from Knox County’s Veterans Service Officer Martin Qualkenbush, Reel was finally promoted by the United States Army posthumously to the rank of Specialist.
Sister April Strange says it was an honor to have in attendance two soldiers who served with her brother during his time in the Gulf many years ago. Fellow soldier Gordon LeDoux is now the VFW Post Commander in Tipton, Iowa.
A new grave marker was unveiled as part of Saturday’s ceremony, honoring Specialist Jeffrey David Reel.
