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Project Delta Detachment B-52, United States Army Special ForcesSubmitted by ANGELnWard14 on Sat, 02/05/2011 - 04:19.
Tonight, a name popped into my head which was embedded there as a young teenager by my father who had taken me to see the mobile "Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall" that came through Cleveland in the 1990's. I recall clearly searching for a specific name of a soldier my dad had served with during his service in Vietnam. That name was "Edward Coffey"... I still have the pencil shaded paper that we etched the name with when we finally found it on that beautiful sunshiny day. I recall my dad getting misty and trying to explain to me details about his friend who had given his life in Vietnam. Tonight, I was drawn to the The Virtual Wall and decided to search for his name again. I found it, opened a special memorial page that allowed people to post comments to memorialize those soldiers and soon found out that the sight is currently experiencing technical difficulties... I had hoped my dad could share memories too about his friend. But, we shall wait until it's fixed... I am sure he has detailed memories. Over the last two weeks, we have traveled all over Vietnam in my dad's daily resuscitations of his time in the military. It's amazing to listen to such amazing historical recounts of the War. Most folks don't comprehend how anyone could stay in the "warzone" so much... But to be around my dad; you'd think he only left Vietnam yesterday. Several years ago, I had the blessed opportunity to help take my dad to North Carolina so that he could have a reunion with his comrads and be honored in Fort Bragg, NC 40 years after the unit he served with had been disbanded. Upon attending the ceremony where a stone memorial was laid in the ground honoring these men; I was elated to FINALLY put faces to names I had heard about my entire life! Even more extraordinary was meeting and greeting countless people who have resounding 'similar' existences. I was blown out of the water when children of one of those veteran's was remarkably dedicated to every detail of worrying about my dad's needs considering he had only underwent surgery less than 2 months before. It was at that point that so many lifelong considerations came to light and I finally understood that most all of the children of the members of that unit were fraternally related for life. We ourselves could recite the warstories by heart. I felt like the other kids were my siblings and like we had known eachother forever. It's was probably one of the most cherished experiences of my life. My dad and the members of this elite unit sustain "commo" worldwide. Last winter when dad got hospitalized again and was "offline" for a period, the son of another veteran called me and we chatted for hours. It was extraordinary again to "bond" with yet another member of our small "family". As my dad was in the hospital at the time his comrad's son that called and had no clue of the dire situation- became a catalyst in prayer vigils that went around the globe. Thereafter, countless calls came from around the world to let me know everyone was praying and pulling for dad to 'get well soon!'. I cannot tell you how significant that support network was during that most challenging time.... I got more calls from those guys & their families than from my own family...it makes you think about the bonds of military personnel and how lifelong friendships have endured, particularly when most of these guys have not been around each other closely in over 40 years... Who says blood is thicker than water? I truly can disagree with that concept without question! My salute to the United States Special Forces (the men who have qualified to wear the "GREEN BERET"), the Special Operations Command, The Special Forces Association, The Special Operations Association, and all their families.
Visit this link for detailed info on this unit, Project Delta Detachment B52. Visit this link for info on the Project Delta Memorial Stone Ceremony in Fort Bragg in October 2008. Two books have been published on this amazing unit including "THE ETHER ZONE" and "BOOTS ON THE GROUND"...
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nice blog , dianna
Nice blog, Dianna. I was impressed when you showed me your father's bio that listed dozens and dozens of honors and medals. Perhaps you would consider sharing some of your father's stories here. it is good to take your mind off of the other issues and to post on different subjects.
Good job :)
About the Service of Veteran Paul Eddie Hill
My father is Paul Eddie Hill. According to him, he is not a hero... While his list of medals is missing a "PURPLE HEART", I believe he has duly earned one; despite his beliefs that it was a "bolo badge" which meant you had "damaged government property (G.I.)...
Paul Eddie Hill enlisted in the U.S. Army on April 30, 1962, and after re-enlisting 3 more times with Honorable Discharges, was honorably discharged on January 31, 1976.
Paul Eddie Hill enlisted into the U.S. Army attending basic training at Fort Knox, KY and Advanced Individual Training at Ft. Sam Houston, TX. He attended Jump School (Airborne) at Fort Benning, GA and was later assigned to Germany as a medic and attended military schools and civilian school for his GED. He volunteered for Special Forces training and went to Fort Bragg, N.C. He trained in Light and Heavy Weapons, Operations and Intelligence, Jump Master School and Instructor Training Course. He also served as an instructor at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, NC.
He volunteered for service in Vietnam. He served with Project Delta Detachment B-52, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) which was the most highly decorated Special Operations UNIT during the Vietnam War Era and also was one of the only U.S. Army units and the only Special Forces Unit to receive the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon.
Other units he served with include the 8th Infantry Division (Airborn), XVIII Airborne Corp, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), 5th SFG(A), 6th SFG(A), 11th SFG(A) and UITG and FANK.
His list of Foreign Duty assignments include Dominican Republic, Germany and several tours in Vietnam.
Project Delta Unit Awards earned by Paul Eddie Hill include Presidential Unit Citation, Valorous Unit Award, Meritorious Unit Commendation, U.S. Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, RVN Cross of Gallantry w/Palm also with RVN Cross of Gallantry with 2nd Palm, and the RVN Civil Actions Honor Medal First Class.
Other Awards earned by Paul Eddie Hill as a soldier throughout his career include but are not limited to: Combat Infantryman's Badge, Bronze Star/Valor with Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal with Oak Leaf Clusters, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal for Cambodia, Vietnam Service Medal with Device 60, Good Conduct Medal Clasp (Second Award), Overseas Bars, Parachute Badge, Vietnamese Jump Wings, Cambodian Jump Wings, Letter of Commendation in Support of PROJECT IVORY COAST, Letter of Commendation from III Marine Amphibious Force, Letter of Appreciation from 1st Air Cavalry Division (Airmobile). Paul Eddie Hill served as OPCON to the 101st Airborne Division, 3rd Marine Division, and the 5th ARVD Division as well as the CG, 1CTZ, CGII CTX, CG III, 1 FFVN, II FFVN, II MAF and Company A 5th Special Forces Group.
My father has forever worn his treasured Project Delta "ring" was presented to members of Project Delta, almost like a "Class Ring".
Curiosly, hearing him and his comrads talk about their time in Vietnam is farly removed from many folks' stories about Vietnam. I know he tries to share the "good" stories while hiding the 'ugly' truths he experienced.
As a child of a Vietnam Veteran who was spit on coming off the plane from Vietnam; I know what it's like to have seen more than my share of "PTSD". I know what it's like for homeless veterans to live with us for durations until they got on their feet. I know what it's like to be at both Brecksville and Wade Park Veteran's Hospitals for visits and volunteering to provide relief to veterans, their families, and even deployed soldiers since childhood. I have been surrounded by countless veterans my entire life and I am proud to have known almost all of them; except one. Despite all those experiences and bittersweet memories; hoping that there is enough time left to share with my dad and to document and share the amazing history in my dad's head is by far one of my most treasured prayers.... As he'd say: "If God's willing and the creek don't rise...we'll get through it all!"
Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"
Dianna Lynn Hill
Happy 4th of July to All our Veterans...
I send a salute out today...and everyday...to the people who have worn a uniform to serve our great nation,defend democracy, and to sustain our freedoms in the USA! May God Bless!
Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"
Soldier of Fortune....
The doctors saw the knife wound around my father's neck which covers the entire perimeter short of one inch on the back of his neck when they were wheeling him into a cardiac procedure the other day...They said he must have "9 lives..." and I reminded them that they better make sure he has 10 lives in their hands....Smiles... All went well in that procedure...but more to follow.
Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"
BRAVO...BRAVO...I always loved those veterans!
I think your Dad is FANTASTIC! ....and you too...by giving him some WORLDLY RECOGNITION! I know his heart is going pitter-patter.
Saluting the Service of Medal of Honor recipient, Col. Howard
My family sends their salutes to the extraordinary service of Col. Howard! RIP!
COL Robert L Howard MOH : A TRIBUTE TO HIS SERVICE
Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"
RIP & TAPS: MIA Green Beret James Leslie Moreland remains ID'd.
This content is copied/pasted from an email received earlier with notice of the memorial....
Subject: A Green Beret comes home / James Leslie Moreland - battle at Lang Vei MIA returned
www.pow-miafamilies.org
Green Beret James Leslie Moreland's remains to be buried in Bibb County 43 years after MIA in Vietnam
Published: Friday, February 18, 2011, 7:15 AM
By Mike Oliver, The Birmingham News
James Leslie Moreland
The graves shown are the Moreland family in Brierfield. The remains of James Leslie Moreland, a former MIA in Vietnam, were recently identified and he will be buried May 14, at the cemetery next to his parents, Fred Moreland and Gladys Moreland. ( Beverly Taylor / The Birmingham News )
BRIERFIELD -- There's a spot marked in a small country graveyard near here for the long lost Green Beret.
Now, after 43 years of uncertainty, the grave in Ashby Cemetery can be filled.
Burial for James Leslie Moreland -- missing in action in Vietnam since Feb. 7, 1968 -- will be May 14 in this isolated cemetery off Bibb County 2, south of Montevallo. Moreland was born in Bessemer on Sept. 29, 1945, moved to California in high school and in 1965 went to Vietnam as a medic in the elite Army Special Forces.
The 22-year-old was presumed dead after a ferocious battle at Lang Vei in South Vietnam. But his body wasn't recovered or identified. Finding the body and securing an ID turned into a decades-long quest until last month, when DNA earlier submitted by five relatives matched remains found at Lang Vei.
"It was very emotional coming up on the 43rd anniversary," said Linda Brown, 62, the youngest of the five Moreland siblings. The family had all come to accept James was dead, but they persisted on finding his body, Brown said.
"I had never given up," said Brown, who lives in Washington state near sister Edna Anita LaMoine, 73. "I said I wouldn't care if they identified just one bone fragment so we could say, 'Yes, it is our brother.'"
Unknown to the Moreland family at the time, a Christmas Day gift in 1972 to a 12-year-old girl added one more person to the long pursuit for answers. Kathy Strong of Walnut Creek, Calif., remembers asking for an MIA bracelet because it was the cool thing to have at the time. Santa Claus brought a bracelet with the name: James Leslie Moreland.
Now 50, Strong became close to members of the Moreland family after her hometown newspaper, the Contra Costa Times, several years ago chronicled how she had worn the bracelet for decades and had grown increasingly interested in Moreland's story.
Strong plans to attend the upcoming burial in Alabama, where she said she will relinquish her bracelet to be buried with the remains.
"My promise was to keep it until he came home and then give it back," Strong said.
Moreland's commanding officer, Paul Longgrear, who is an ordained minister, will officiate the service.
Longgrear led a strike force unit, which included Moreland, to help defend a Special Forces camp near the Laotian border. The camp was a "thorn in the side of the North Vietnamese," Longgrear said, and on Feb. 6, 1968, it came under heavy attack from enemy tanks. He said he remembered Moreland being seriously wounded in the head as he went to fetch a machine gun in an open area, aiming to keep it out of enemy hands. In the ensuing explosions and subsequent takeover, some men escaped, some were captured, some were killed. Moreland's body was never recovered.
"He was a great guy -- a great looking kid with a lot of confidence," said Longg rear, who lives in Pine Mountain, Ga. "He had that swagger. Green Beret tend to be that way."
Moreland's early childhood years were spent in the Birmingham area and in Selma, his sisters said. He went to Lyman Ward Military Academy in Camp Hill in the eighth and ninth grades. The family moved to southern California in 1962, and Moreland became an all-county football player at Western High School in Anaheim, playing on the same team as Andy Messersmith, who went on to become a Major League baseball player. After graduation, Moreland attended Fullerton Junior College but ultimately followed his two older brothers' footsteps into the military, albeit a different branch.
"I tried my best to get him to come to the Navy," chuckled retired Navy Seabee and older brother Robert D. Moreland, 75, of Lakeside, Calif. "But he liked to skydive."
When on June 5, 1978, the Army declared Moreland "presumed dead," his mother, Gladys Parks, organized a memorial service for him at Ashby Cemetery and dedicated a large granite marker in her son's memory. They played 'Ballad of the Green Beret' and tears flowed, Brown remembered.
Moreland's mother died April 1, 2001, but she talked to The Birmingham News in 1978 about the memorial.
"I just felt this memorial was one way I can honor him," she said. "But to me he's not dead. If they could have ever found some trace of him to give me, some little something to prove they found him, I could accept it. ... Maybe someday I will."
Dorothy Moreland, 81, of Montevallo, who is widower of the oldest Moreland sibling, Roger, said it is sad Parks won't see this day. But there's some comfort to be taken, she supposes, in the burial arrangement putting Moreland next to the graves of his mother and father.
When they lay him to rest, "brother'll be back home between mommy and daddy," she said.
Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"
Fighting Soldiers From The Sky; Fearless Men Who Jump and Die...
Men who mean just what they say...the brave men of the Green Beret.......
Happy Veteran's Day to All of America's Best!
Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"
TAPS: PAUL EDDIE HILL : RIP
HILL PAUL EDDIE HILL age 68. Born in Newport, TN and raised in Cleveland passed away January 27, 2014 at his home in Tippecanoe, OH surrounded by his loving family.
Beloved husband of the late Phyllis (nee McArdle). Loving father of Paul Edward (deceased), Edward Lee (Kelly Jones), Billy Jack, Dianna Lynn. Adopted grandfather of Coty (deceased) and Edward Lee II.
Cherished grandfather of Ashley and Shawnee Kearns, Walter, Austin, Blair, Mark, Angelina Elizabeth Rose and Liberty Isabella Naydeen Hill.
Son of the late Paul McMahan (Betty) and Martha Brown (William "Buck").
Dear brother of Steve "Butch" (Minnie), Linda Roesky (deceased) (Andy), Phillip McMahan (deceased) (Sandy Rager), Donald McMahan (Lynn), Lenny Brown (Peggy), Dave Brown (Dale), Donald Brown (deceased) (Noka), Ronald Brown (deceased) (Sue Barbera) (Duke), William Brown, Keith Brown (deceased) and Beverly Perez (Matt). Son in Law of the late William McArdle and Lynnette McNemar (Eugene). Brother in law of Donna Jones (Bill) (both deceased), Gail McArdle (deceased), Danielle Kovacic (Andy), Jeanne Llorente (Joel), Mila Brady (John), William "Daryl" McArdle (Maryanne), Mark McArdle (deceased) (Robin) and Robin Haynik (Rusty).
Special uncle, great uncle, nephew, cousin and friend of many.
Second Dad "Pap" to Christopher Maynard, Chris Cunningham and Zak Beebe.
Endearing friend of Rodney Wallace, Albert Ribis and Dr. John P. Wilson (Silvana).
U.S. Army Special Forces Project Delta - Det. B-52 Vietnam Veteran.
Funeral services at the funeral home Friday January 31, 2014 at 7:00 PM and
Saturday February 1, 2014 at the Lakeland Area Ministries, Church of the Nazarene, 79030 State Route 800, Tippecanoe, OH 44699 from 10 AM - Noon.
Interment Hill Family Cemetery.
Friends received Friday 4 - 7 PM at the A. RIPEPI AND SONS FUNERAL HOME, 3202 FULTON ROAD, CLEVELAND, OHIO. -
See more at: http://obits.cleveland.com/obituaries/cleveland/obituary.aspx?pid=169389107#sthash.yzGjhkef.dpuf
Always Appreciative, "ANGELnWard14"
salutes i met paul at diannas liked paul wish i could have talk
salutes i met paul at diannas i liked paul wish i could have talked longer - pauls with us in spirit body not human body that caused pain - "there is no death only a change of worlds" - Chief Seattle
sophia honey yoga and guy -
Condolences to the Hill family and their friends...
It's been a long battle.
Mr. Hill had many well wishers here at Realneo.
Mr. Hill's Daughter has done a hell of a job for her Dad.
Good Bye Mr. Hill.
Best, Jeff
TY to Dianna's Father Paul Eddie Hill - inspiration
I know that Dianna's strength is a testament to both of her amazing parents - and she instills that strength in everyone she meets and touches in this life. Heroes xxoo Laura