Retired First Sgt. Kevin Reeves details Iraq deployments during Southaven luncheon speech

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. – From the battlefields of Iraq to the fire stations of DeSoto County, retired Army First Sgt. Kevin Reeves has built a life defined by service.

In the keynote address for Tuesday’s Southaven Veterans Day Luncheon, Reeves, who also served 25 years with the Southaven Fire Department, offered a candid and emotional account of his dual careers, his family’s long military legacy, and the lasting impacts of combat.

“Serving was something that the Reeves had in our hearts,” Reeves told the audience.

Reeves, who retired from the fire department as a lieutenant in 2016, detailed a family history of service. He called his older brothers, Buddy and Ken, his “heroes growing up.” Both joined the National Guard, setting a precedent that Reeves, his nephew, and his own son would eventually follow.

After his parents passed away, Reeves was orphaned at 15 and raised by his sister. Following his brother, he joined the Mississippi Army National Guard at 17, while still a junior in high school. His fire career began in 1990, first as a volunteer before being hired in Walls and later joining the Southaven Fire Department.

The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks marked a pivotal turn. Reeves recalled watching the second plane hit the World Trade Center. “I said, ‘Well, watch the movie,'” he recounted, knowing deployment was inevitable.

He deployed with Mississippi’s oldest National Guard unit, the 155th Infantry Regiment, to the “Triangle of Death” in Iraq in January 2005. During the year-long deployment, his unit lost 28 soldiers. As the brigade’s public affairs NCO, Reeves said it was his “job to document for the families back at home” and memorialize their lost brothers. His team also established the Ishtar, which he described as Iraq’s first free press newspaper.

Reeves spoke openly about the difficult transition home.

“Little things weren’t so little anymore,” he said, describing how loud, sudden noises like a nearby dumpster, a weather siren, or a dropped baking sheet would send him “looking for a bunker.”

A second deployment to Iraq followed, this time as a first sergeant. On that tour, he said, “I was fortunate enough that I got to bring home all 143 of my souls.”

Reeves retired from the National Guard in 2010 after 24 years of service. He retired from the Southaven Fire Department in 2016.

Today, Reeves lives in Coldwater with his wife, Terry, where he continues to serve his community as the Assistant Fire Chief for the Greenleaf Volunteer Fire Department.

He concluded his speech with a heartfelt message to veterans, particularly those from the Vietnam era.

“They were not welcomed at home the way that we were, and I apologize to you for that,” he said. “Your service, your sacrifice, may never go without notice… May God bless you all, and God bless the United States.”