Robert L. Reeves, white, name on monument, Davie County, North Carolina

Robert Lester Reeves, full name

Birth: 10 May 1922

Death: 30 November 1944

Buried: Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands

1930 US Census; R. Lester Reeves, 7, living in Olin, Iredell County with stepfather, J. Wright Reeves; mother: Etta M. Reeves; and younger brother and sister

1940 US Census: Lester, 17, brick mason helper, living in North Cooleemee with parents, Wright and Etta Reeves, and 5 siblings

Draft Registration: Robert Lester Reeves, 20, born 10 May 1922 in Iredell County, place of residence: Cooleemee; contact listed as Mr. Wright Reeves, Cooleemee; living at NYA (National Youth Administration) Camp in Durham NC*

Enlistment: born in 1922 in North Carolina, living in Davie County, enlisted on 2 September 1942 at Camp Croft SC, brick mason, single

WWII Veterans Interred Overseas: Private, U.S. Army, 66th Regiment, 2nd Armored Division, Entered the Service from North Carolina; Died: 30 November 1944; Buried at Plot H, Row 1, Grave 8, Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands; Awards: Purple Heart

NARA Records, World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing for NC: Pvt., KIA

Receipt of $40 received monthly by Lester’s mother as a result of his death

His sister also shared that when Etta’s first husband, Burgess, died, that his brother, Wright, became her second husband. The first marriage had 3 children and the second had 4 children. Etta had an opportunity to go to Holland to see her son’s grave, but was not well enough to go. Emma remembers coming home from school and finding everybody crying because they had just received the sad telegram.

Photograph of Lester and receipt shared by his sister, Emma Reeves Tutterow

*The National Youth Administration (NYA) was a New Deal agency in the United States that focused on providing work and education for Americans between the ages of 16 and 25. It operated from June, 26 1935 to 1939 as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Following the passage of the Reorganization Act of 1939, the NYA was transferred from the WPA to the Federal Security Agency. By 1938, it served 327,000 high school and college youth, who were paid from $6 to $40 a month for “work study” projects at their schools. Another 155,000 boys and girls from relief families were paid $10 to $25 a month for part-time work that included job training. Unlike the CCC, it included young women. The youth normally lived at home, and worked on construction or repair projects. Its annual budget was approximately $58,000,000. The NYA operated numerous programs for out of school youth. In 1942, the NYA was transferred to the War Manpower Commission (WMC). The NYA officially closed in 1943.