Marine Corps career

Reynolds enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve at Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

, January 23, 1942.

Awarded the Silver Star

He was killed in action on Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...

 November 25, 1942 after boldly exposing himself to destroy a Japanese

Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...

 machinegun nest in fighting to defend Henderson Field. Private Reynolds was posthumously awarded the Silver Star

Silver Star

The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....

 for the conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity without regard for personal safety.

Namesake

McCoy Reynolds (DE-440)

USS McCoy Reynolds (DE-440)

USS McCoy Reynolds was a acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II. The primary purpose of the destroyer escort was to escort and protect ships in convoy, in addition to other tasks as assigned, such as patrol or radar picket...

 was named in his honor. She was laid down by Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newark, New Jersey

Newark, New Jersey

Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

, November 18, 1943; launched February 22, 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Tilden Reynolds; and commissioned at Brooklyn Navy Yard

Brooklyn Navy Yard

The United States Navy Yard, New York–better known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard or the New York Naval Shipyard –was an American shipyard located in Brooklyn, northeast of the Battery on the East River in Wallabout Basin, a semicircular bend of the river across from Corlear's Hook in Manhattan...

May 2, 1944, Lt. Comdr. Edwin K. Winn in command.