Friends and family gathered in Sherman on Friday as Air Force veteran Pete Reese was named October's Texoma Hero, the monthly honor KTEN gives to people from around the region.
Reese's service reaches back more than six decades. In 1963, he was among those who helped guard President John F. Kennedy during the president's stop in Fort Worth, hours before Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, the station reported. He later volunteered for duty in Vietnam.
A dog named Little Joe
The memory that has stayed closest, Reese told KTEN, is of a military working dog named Little Joe that he served with in Vietnam. When Reese was sent home, the dog stayed behind.
"It was extremely tight. I was really kind of... still am heartbroken," Reese said. He said he had hoped the dog would get a good handler, and that it did.
Fellow veteran HS "Bert" Garcia, who joined the ceremony, called Reese a hero.
