Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412100047
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Foster A. Reves, 68, of Bains Chapel Road died about 50 minutes after his pickup was struck from behind by a panel truck.
Reves was retired from the Army and had served in World War II, the Korean War and in Vietnam.
His nephew, Lt. Tommy Whitt of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, said it was likely his uncle was coming back from a swap meet on Virginia 605 near the New River.
"It was unusual for him to come back up the interstate," Whitt said. "Normally, he'd take the back roads. He'd love to take the back roads."
Reves was driving north on I-81, just south of the 109 exit he would take to go home when his pickup was hit from behind at 6:30 a.m. by a delivery truck driven by Carol V. Webber of Roanoke.
"It appears that her vehicle struck the pickup in the rear. My opinion is that she fell asleep," Trooper R.C. Grubb said.
The impact caused Reves to lose control of his truck, which ran off the road to the left, struck an embankment and flipped several times.
Reves, who apparently was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown from his truck.
Webber's truck began to run off the right side of the road after the collision, then the driver tried to turn sharply to the left, state police said. The panel truck flipped over and slid off the highway to the left, striking an embankment.
Webber sustained cuts to her head and a slight concussion. She was treated at Radford Community Hospital and released, Grubb said.
The wreck tied up I-81 for two hours, creating mile-long backups at times. State police tried to keep traffic moving in one lane on the shoulder.
No charges had been filed Thursday afternoon.
Reves had a long history of military service, dating to his mid-teens when he joined the Navy during World War II by lying about his age, Whitt said. The Navy discovered his trick and kicked him out, but he re-enlisted a year later when his mother signed for him.
Reves left the Navy after six years and enlisted in the Army. He served in the Korean War and completed three tours of Vietnam.
He was a three-time recipient of the Bronze Star, which recognizes heroism in combat, and he had a Purple Heart cluster recognizing the numerous times he had been injured, Whitt said.
Reves is the third person to die on Montgomery County roadways since Thanksgiving. The other two people died after separate wrecks Nov. 26 and Dec. 4 on Peppers Ferry Road near Virginia 659.
Staff writer Brian Kelley contributed information for this story.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB