S1c Casbie Reaves

Casbie Reaves was born Feb. 7, 1918 in Jeff Davis Township, Little River County in southwest Arkansas near Oklahoma and Texas. His mother, Bertha Boren Reaves, was a homemaker and his father, Joseph Reaves, a farmer. The couple also had four daughters and a son who died in infancy.

The spring 1940 Census said Casbie and his father both farmed but made no income from the work the previous year. The son had completed 8th grade but was no longer enrolled in school.

Young Mr. Reaves enlisted in the Navy on Nov. 14, 1940. He was a seaman first class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

His Purple Heart was passed from his mother to his youngest sister, Jo, who was about eight when he left Jeff Davis, population 520. It was stolen in 2012, but within days of a newspaper article about the home burglary, an anonymous tipster helped police recover the medal.

Sources: the Texarkana Gazette; Census; Navy muster roll; military registration card. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.