William Reeder Jr. was born in Glendale, California. Raised in and around Los Angeles, he enlisted in the Army in 1965 after working as a U.S. Forest Service firefighter and electrical lineman for Southern California Edison. He had two tours of duty in Vietnam flying OV-1 Mohawk reconnaissance airplanes and AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters. On his second combat tour, he was shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese, spending nearly a year as a prisoner of war. Through the Valley is his memoir of that experience.
Books in order of publication:
Through the Valley: My Captivity in Vietnam – 2016
Extraordinary Valor: The Fight for Charlie Hill – 2022
We Dared to Fly: Dangerous Secret Missions During the Vietnam War – 2024
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