Sergeant Clovis Lee May US Army
Clovis Lee May was born December 14, 1944 in Deming NM to Mr. and Mrs. Edgar May. His family owned and operated the Spanish Stirrup guest ranch 12 miles southeast of Deming. His family was well known in rodeo circles and after graduating from Deming HS in 1962, he enrolled at NMSU. While at NMSU he participated in the NMSU Rodeo Team. In 2010 noted author Baxter Black wrote of Clovis:
This Memorial Day my thoughts go back to a friend from college, Clovis May. Mild mannered, hardworking, good cowboy from a ranching family in Deming, New Mexico. I don’t recall exactly what his major was, but probably Range Management or Ag Business. He was big enough to play football, but he rodeoed. A solid man in character, physicality and reliability. Due to problems at home he quit school to go back and help at the ranch. Four months later he received his draft notice but was granted a deferment. In December of ’67 he was called up by the Army. The rest is history, so they say, written on the Wall...the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
By June 1968, Clovis was in country assigned to “B” Company, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry, 198th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division.
The Americal Division was responsible for the southern half of I Corps. Their main base was in Chu Lai. In May 1969 the 1st Battalion was assigned to LZ Professional, a firebase located southeast of Tam Ky approximately 20 miles inland. On 12 May the NVA sprang their Mother’s Day offensive threatening both Chu Lai and Tam Ky. The Fire Support Bases were on their own for several days until the 101st Airborne was able to respond to the declaration of a Tactical Emergency. Their response was given the name Operation Lamar Plain. The NVA 3rd Regiment, 2nd NVA Division threw their full weight against LZ Professional. Over the next several days the four companies of the 1st Battalion found themselves in a life or death struggle. Fighting was so fierce as to force the US commanders to order that the US dead be left behind on the battlefield. Company B was given the task of securing the high ground immediately to the south of LZ Professional. On 22 May 1969 Sergeant Clovis May was killed in action by a mortar barrage. His body was recovered and today is buried in the Mountain View Cemetery in Deming NM. Sergeant Clovis Lee May was 24 years of age at the time of his death in service to his nation.