05/29/2024
Kathy Strong’s 38-Year Journey with POW/MIA Bracelet
By Bob McCullough
The story begins with SFC James Moreland, a Green Beret medic in Vietnam. James Leslie Moreland was born September 29, 1945, in Bessemer, Alabama, and enlisted in the Army at the age of 20. James began his tour in Vietnam on July 4, 1967, as a combat medic assigned to Detachment B-16, Company C, 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces. On Feb 6, 1968, during the Tet Offensive, North Vietnamese soldiers overran the Lang Vei Special Forces camp just east of the Laotian border. American losses were extreme. Commanding officer First Lieutenant Paul Longgrear led a strike force unit. Longgrear said, “The Special Forces camp was a thorn in the side of North Vietnam. As a result, it came under heavy attack.” Nineteen men, including Longgrear and Moreland, were awarded the Silver Star, one soldier received the Medal of Honor, and two others received the Distinguished Service Cross. Many of these medals were posthumously awarded. Longgrear 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. Moreland’s body was never recovered. Records show he was killed in action on February 7, 1968, at Lang Vei, South Vietnam.
In 1972, many seventh graders wore a POW/MIA bracelet. Each bracelet bore the name of a soldier who was either still a prisoner (POW) in Vietnam or missing in action (MIA). Kathy Strong was 12 years old at the time, and of course, she wanted a bracelet. She told her parents that she wanted Santa to bring her a POW/MIA bracelet for Christmas. Christmas morning when she woke, she and her sister both found POW/MIA bracelets in their stockings. At that time, the bracelet recipient didn’t know the status of the person for whom they wore the bracelet. All that they knew was that the soldier was missing. To Kathy, it meant you put it on your wrist and wear it until your soldier came home. Her stainless-steel bracelet simply read “Spec 5 James Moreland, 2-7-68”.
In 1973, the POWs started coming home. By the end of 1973, all the POWs had came home, and that’s when she found out that if your soldier had not come home, your soldier was MIA. She didn’t even understand how a soldier could go missing. Kathy continued to wear her bracelet for James Moreland for a total of 38 years. She just wanted to keep the promise of wearing the bracelet until James Moreland’s remains were found and returned.
On the 20th anniversary, she asked her local newspaper, The Daily News, to write a story about the bracelet. On the 40th anniversary, she once again called her local newspaper, Contra Costa Times, to write a story of the Bracelet and James Moreland. At that time, the internet helped her story go nationwide. After the Contra Costa Times article ran in 2008, James Moreland’s sister, Linda, in Washington State, read the story on the internet and called the newspaper to get in touch with Kathy. Kathy flew to Washington State to visit Linda and her older sister Anita. Three years later, on a Thursday night, Kathy received a call from Linda saying, “Brother’s Coming Home”. He had been found!
Unbeknownst to the Moreland family, on April 12, 1995, remains believed to be James were excavated and sent to a military forensic lab in Hawaii. His mother was still alive at that time. However, they didn’t have the technology, so the remains sat in the lab in Hawaii for 16 years until the technology was available to test and match DNA. The DNA samples from Moreland’s mother and several other family members were used for matching, so the military could determine the bones were the remains of James Moreland. Linda said at their first meeting if theyjust found one bone, she would be happy; they found two.
The funeral was held on May 14, 2011. There were almost 500 people who attended the funeral from across the country, along with 1,000 people who owned the roads as the funeral procession drove through the country roads to the cemetery. Kathy wore his bracelet on her left wrist for 38 years. She removed it before the funeral and placed it on James Moreland’s Army dress uniform on his left sleeve. Since she had been wearing it on her left wrist, he could continue wearing it where she had been wearing it. Kathy now wears a James Moreland button that was handed out at his funeral every time she goes to a memorial to dedicate a brick in his honor.
Her first brick for James Moreland was in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, the 2ndbrick in Pennsylvania at a museum in Carlisle, the 3rd brick was placed in Danville, California, the 4th brick was placed in Birmingham, Alabama, and the 5th brick in Columbus, Georgia where James Moreland trained at Fort Benning. Shortly after her visit to Georgia, she decided to donate a brick in each of the 50 states.
After the ceremony in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, dedicating brick #17, an older gentleman came to shake her hand. In his hand was $80. He told her he hoped this was enough for her next brick. Ten days later, she flew to Florida to dedicate brick #18. The brick cost her $78. On the way to the ceremony, she stopped to get a single rose, which cost her $1.99. If only the Vietnam veteran knew that his $80 was enough!
On Sunday, October 9th, Kathy Strong came to Ohio to dedicate a brick for James Moreland. Ohio became the 25th state for a brick dedication. When asked how, she selected Ohio Veterans Memorial Park (OVMP) in Clinton, Ohio, she said there were a lot of memorial parks in Ohio to select from, but she felt the OVMP paid special tribute to our POW/MIA veterans.
Kathy Strong has no foundation to help her with the cost of the bricks, which range from $50 to $500 each. She pays all expenses herself. If you would like to help Kathy meet her goal of placing a brick in each of the 50 states, you can send a donation to Kathy Strong, 1656 Terrace Way, Walnut Creek, CA 94597.
Editor’s Note…
Thanks for your important article, Bob!
Semper Fi!
