Floyd Ellwood Reavis was born on April 8, 1895, in the small farming community of Midvale in southwestern Idaho. He was the fourth of the nine children of Charles and Belle Reavis. Also joining him in the family were brothers Roy, Herbert, Marion, Norris and Glen and sisters Mabel, Louise and Thelma.

As a young boy, Floyd attended local Midvale schools in addition to working on the family farm. In June 1914 he graduated from Midvale High School and continued working on the farm the following year before securing a position as a rural postal delivery carrier.

Reavis was living in Midvale, Idaho on June 5, 1917, when he registered for the draft; however, he apparently moved to California during the following year. The Battlefield Monument Commission indicated that he entered the service in California and the California Adjutant Generals office noted that his residence was in Santa Cruz. Draft records describe him as being tall, slender with light brown hair and grey eyes.

After entering the US Army, Reavis was likely sent to Camp Lewis Washington, for basic training. At the completion of his training period he was assigned to the 158th Infantry Regiment of the 40th Infantry Division.

“Arizona's First Infantry Regiment was drafted into Federal Service for World War I, August 5, 1917 as part of the 40th Division. The Regiment was re-designated as the 158th Infantry Regiment on October 3, 1917, and sent overseas in July and August 1918. In France, the 158th Infantry was assigned to a division, which furnished replacement personnel to other units.”

Private Floyd Reavis was serving with that unit in the St. Mihiel battlefield area of France when he contracted an unspecified disease that resulted in his death on September 5, 1918. His remains were buried in the St. Mihiel Cemetery in Thiaucourt, France.

(WWIDR, CAG; 1910 US Census, ID, Washington, Midvale; ABMC; History of Middle Valley, by Evelyn Leger, http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:oBYmY9TIbq8J:midvale. lili.org/files/midvale/Leger,Evelyn%3BHistoryMiddleValley.doc; Arizona Memory Project http://azmemory.lib.az.us/cdm4/index. php?CISOROOT=/ammbush [12 October 2009])