Captain Maisey came from a family of Air Force Security Police.  His brother was a security policeman and his father was a Warrant Officer in that field.

From: "A Hero: Captain Reginald V. Maisey, Jr."

In 1968, Captain Maisey was assigned to the 3rd Security Police Squadron at Bien Hoa AB, near Saigon. His heroic tale began early in the morning of January 31, 1968 - the Tet offensive.

Air Force Magazine (Feb.'93) describes our classmate's valor in an article entitled, "Hero of Bien Hoa" by John L. Frisbee.

A brief synopsis: A major objective of the (Tet) offensive was to capture Saigon...though a cease-fire had been negotiated for Tet holidays, US forces were wary of the promise and were on alert when the countrywide offensive started early January 31. 

 One of the obstacles standing in the way on the road to Saigon was Bien Hoa. At 3 a.m., two specially-trained enemy infantry battalions and a reinforced company struck Bien Hoa to shut down that flight line's operation. First they had to get by Bunker Hill 10 on the east border of the base. The French-built concrete-reinforced bunker was lightly manned (by 3rd SPSq) when the 10-minute rocket bombardment of the position began. This was followed by the advancement of large numbers of communist troops, blasting away with rockets and automatic weapons.

Captain Maisey was at the opposite end of the base at the onset: he realized that holding Bunker Hill 10 was critical to air base ground defense. "Maisey moved immediately to Central Security Command Post and volunteered to lead the defense of the bunker, occupied by a handful of men who were firing furiously through the gun ports of octagonal structure." This required Maisey to drive through the barrage of enemy fire and he did -- miraculously getting there unhurt.

Once inside the bunker, Reggie found he could not communicate with the command post; to do so, he'd have to leave the bunker, exposing himself to enemy fire -- and he did so many times. His bravery and skill inspired that small security police force, vastly outnumbered and with many injured.

During one of the sorties out of the bunker, Capt. Maisey was hit by enemy fire but continued to report to his command post and encourage his men. Now, even with helicopter gunship and AC-47 support, they were still in danger of being overrun.

"About 4:30 am, Capt. Maisey...left the bunker to contact command post. He was hit by an enemy rocket and killed instantly, but the men he led so brilliantly...contain(ed) the enemy until reinforcements arrived."

Reggie became the first non-rated AF officer to receive the Air Force Cross. An imposing building at Bolling AFB bears the name of this gallant warrior.

Capt. Reg Maisey is also honored by his fellow Air Force Security Police at the Air Force Security Police Museum, Lackland AFB, TX . He is remembered in a special section of the museum named the Hall of Honor.