Reagan, Ronald Wilson, Capt

From Reagan Presidential Library:

MILITARY SERVICE OF RONALD REAGAN

Ronald Wilson Reagan enrolled in a series of home-study Army Extension Courses on 18 March 1935. After completing 14 of the courses, he enlisted in the Army Enlisted Reserve on 29 April 1937, as a Private assigned to Troop B, 322nd Cavalry at Des Moines, Iowa. He was appointed Second Lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps of the Cavalry on 25 May 1937. On June 18 of that year Reagan, who had just moved to Los Angeles to begin his film career, accepted his Officer's Commission and was assigned to the 323rd Cavalry.

Lieutenant Reagan was ordered to active duty on 19 April 1942. Due to eyesight difficulties, he was classified for limited service only, which excluded him from serving overseas. His first assignment was at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation at Fort Mason, California, as liaison officer of the Port and Transportation Office. Upon the request of the Army Air Forces (AAF), he applied for a transfer from the Cavalry to the AAF on 15 May 1942; the transfer was approved on 9 June 1942. He was assigned to AAF Public Relations and subsequently to the 1st Motion Picture Unit in Culver City, California. Reagan was promoted to First Lieutenant on 14 January 1943 and was sent to the Provisional Task Force Show Unit of This Is The Army at Burbank, California. Following this duty, he returned to the 1st Motion Picture Unit, and on 22 July 1943 was promoted to Captain.

In January 1944, Captain Reagan was ordered to temporary duty in New York City to participate in the opening of the sixth War Loan Drive. He was assigned to the 18th AAF Base Unit, Culver City, California on 14 November 1944, where he remained until the end of the war. He was recommended for promotion to Major on 2 February 1945, but this recommendation was disapproved on July 17 of that year. On 8 September 1945, he was ordered to report to Fort MacArthur, California, where he was separated from active duty on 9 December 1945.

While on active duty with the 1st Motion Picture Unit and the 18th Army Air Forces Base Unit, Captain Reagan served as Personnel Officer, Post Adjutant, and Executive Officer. By the end of the war, his units had produced some 400 training films for the Army Air Forces.

Reagan's Reserve Commission automatically terminated on 1 April 1953. However, he became Commander-in-Chief of all U.S. Armed Forces when he became President on 20 January 1981.
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40th United States President, Actor. Considered by many historians and political scientists as the one individual who most helped end the Cold War between the Western world and the Soviet Union and its allies (although this event occurred ten months after he left office). Born in the small town of Tampico, Illinois, he graduated from Eureka College, Illinois, in 1932 with a degree in economics and sociology. He landed a job as sportscaster for Radio station WOC in Davenport, Iowa, and later for WHO radio. Using his childhood nickname "Dutch," he broadcast Chicago Cubs baseball games. In 1937, he enlisted in the Army Reserve as a Private, and was soon promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. That same year, he took a screen test for Warner's Brothers Studio and became an actor, later making more than 50 films. He gained his second nickname "the Gipper" when he played legendary Notre Dame halfback George Gipp in the 1940 movie, "Knute Rockne, All American." In 1940, he married actress Jane Wyman. They had a daughter, Maureen, in 1941 and adopted a son, Michael, in 1945, but their marriage ended in divorce in 1948. During World War II, Reagan served on active duty, making some 400 training films for the Army. He was discharged as a Captain on December 9, 1945, to return to Hollywood. Becoming more involved in politics, he supported President Harry S. Truman's bid for reelection in 1948, but changed to Republican to support Dwight D. Eisenhower's bid for the presidency in 1952. On March 4, 1952, he married actress Nancy Davis, and they had two children, Ron and Patti. In 1964, he spoke for Barry Goldwater at the Republican National Convention, and came into the national spotlight. In 1966, he defeated Democrat Edmund Brown for Governor of California, which he held for 8 years. Making unsuccessful bids for Republican candidate for President in 1968 and 1976, he was successful in winning the nomination, and the election, in 1980. He easily won reelection in 1984, and his Vice President, George H.W. Bush, won the election of 1988. In 1989, the Berlin Wall, symbol of the Cold War between the United States and the USSR, fell, an act that is attributed to Reagan's earlier confrontation with communism. Within two years, the communist governments of Eastern Europe and the USSR had fallen to democratic forces. Several years after his retirement as President, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, a progressively active disease that robs a person of their memory and is eventually fatal.

Source: Find A Grave

Other Comments:

"If we look to the answer as to why, for so many years, we achieved so much, prospered as no other people on Earth, it was because here, in this land, we unleashed the energy and individual genius of man to a greater extent than has ever been done before. Freedom and the dignity of the individual have been more available and assured here than in any other place on Earth. The price for this freedom at times has been high, but we have never been unwilling to pay that price."

President Ronald Reagan in his first inaugural address