Soldier, father and friend

from 2024 Veterans Salute Magazine

by Brainerd Dispatch and Echo Journal

helping others

BY TOM FRAKI Echo Journal

BREEZY POINT — When Jo Lynn Reed started her search to find out more about her birth parents, she didn’t know what she expected to learn.

Through confirmation from her biological mother, Reed learned that AV Spikes, who served as a specialist fourth class in the U.S. Army and died in Vietnam in 1966, was her birth father.

“I had a friend who helped me chase it down through genealogy, it was Ancestry. She found my birth mother because of her name. But when I did the genealogy, she helped trace it all the way back and found out that Mr. Spikes was my father. Then I got confirmation of that from my birth mother,” Reed said.

Reed, who is from Huntsville, Alabama, and worked as a detention officer and security guard, was placed for adoption when she was 3 days old. She said her adoptive parents were a blessing, but she wanted to learn more about her genealogy and her biological parents.

Reed was born in March 1965 and was 14 months old when her birth father died serving in Vietnam.

In January 2021, Reed posted a message to AV Spikes’ remembrance page on the Wall of Faces website for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. In her post, she wrote:

“You would be 81 today. You were my birth Father, you were killed defending our country and I thank you for your ultimate sacrifice. I wish I could’ve met you. The daughter you never met - Jo Lynn Reed.”

A little more than three years later in April 2024, Cliff Muller, of Breezy Point and who served with Spikes, saw Reed’s post and wrote one of his own.

“My name is Sergeant Cliff Muller. I was with A V Spikes for one year. He was rotating home to board a helicopter on LZ (Landing Zone) Hereford to go back to base camp to get his final gear to return home when LZ Hereford was overrun and sadly, his life was taken that tragic day in Binh Dinh Province. Spikes was an absolutely great guy and I miss him to this day. It was a very extremely sad day. I welcome calls from platoon members and family members. Jo Lynn Reed, if you’re reading this, please give me a call,” Muller wrote and included his phone number.

After eventually seeing what Muller posted, Reed considered his offer and reached out to him.

“It was about a week before Memorial Day weekend that I found (his post). He posted in April, and then I just happened to pull it up and found it. I called him on Memorial Day, and we’ve been talking ever since,” Reed said.

Muller said it was through a friend that he learned about the Wall of Faces website and found Spikes’ remembrance page.

“My friend in Arizona was putting faces on the wall (for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial), and she asked me, ‘Well, do you know anybody there?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, my friend Spikes.’ I guess it all built from there,” he said. “What a unique opportunity. It was a one-in-a-million chance of us getting in touch.”

Muller offered to have Reed visit him at his home, and on Aug. 15 Muller drove to Minneapolis to pick her up from the airport and have her spend the weekend in Breezy Point.

While they talked at his home, Muller shared his experiences serving with Spikes in Vietnam.

“I didn’t know him before I was drafted. He was regular Army. I think he had been in the Army about five years. He was what they called a forward observer; he directed artillery. He was with our line company with the infantry, and he would call in fire missions. We were on that LZ when he was waiting for a helicopter to get sent back to base camp,” Muller said.

Muller told Reed stories from both in and out of combat that he and Spikes had gone through while they were in the war. He said Spikes was a humble person and a true soldier.

Muller said that while it was difficult to bring up some of his memories, it also helped to process and be at peace with some of what he experienced.

“You try and piece it together later, and you don’t even know what your mind saw. Things like that happen, and you have to turn it off and keep going. Because you can’t dwell on those things,” he said.

Reed said she had no way of knowing if Spikes knew about her while he was in Vietnam, and Muller said he couldn’t recall talking to Spikes about her.

“I keep trying to shake my mind of what Spikes and I talked about. But when you’re in combat, you’re trying to stay alive and help your other comrades stay alive,” Muller said.

Muller was grateful that Reed was so receptive to visiting and hearing about what he and her birth father experienced during the war.

“I’m so happy to share Spikes’ life that I had with him with you. You never know how people are going to receive this, and I’m sure it was hard for you. I was worried that we couldn’t talk to you. But you’re very open, and I love that,” he told her.

During Reed’s visit to Breezy Point, Muller helped arrange to have Crow Wing County Veterans Services present her with an American flag on Aug. 16. Veterans Services Specialist Kim Jensen and former Brainerd VFW Post Commander Dave Meyer came to Muller’s home to talk to Reed and present her with the flag.

“On May 21, 1966, Specialist E4 Spikes was declared a casualty of the Vietnam War. He served with honor in the United States Army, and he is remembered by the people of the United States of America, Mississippi and Minnesota. From a grateful nation, please accept this, and may his positive example inspire all of us working together toward peace, mutual respect and equality for all. Thank you,” Jensen said to Reed while presenting the flag.

Jensen said they would work with Reed to help her get duplicates of Spikes’ dog tags and any medals he received.

“I would appreciate it if you would stay in touch and keep us updated on your life. You’re part of a family,” Jensen told Reed regarding Spikes’ service to his country.

Reed said the whole experience of meeting Muller and being able to learn more about her birth father meant a lot to her, and she appreciated everyone’s contributions.

Muller said he was happy to get the chance to preserve the history of his experiences and give some closure to his memories.

“I was so happy to connect with her because Spikes is a very important person in my Vietnam experience. I want to share it before something happens to me, and that history is gone,” Muller said.

“This has been a real find for me. It’s a very emotional thing, and for her as well. This meeting is just unbelievable. It’s really, really special,” he said.

Shortly after her visit to Breezy Point, Reed made the trip to Mississippi to see her birth father’s gravesite for the first time.

TOM FRAKI, staff writer for the PineandLakes Echo Journal newspaper, can be reached at 218-855-5863 or tom. fraki@pineandlakes.com. Follow him on Facebook.