VIEW ALL PHOTOS (5)
HONORED ON PANEL 38E, LINE 7 OF THE WALL
JAMES LESLIE MORELAND
WALL NAME
JAMES L MORELAND
PANEL / LINE
38E/7
DATE OF BIRTH
CASUALTY PROVINCE
DATE OF CASUALTY
HOME OF RECORD
COUNTY OF RECORD
STATE
BRANCH OF SERVICE
RANK
REMEMBRANCES
LEFT FOR JAMES LESLIE MORELAND
POSTED ON 3.8.2019
Congressman Lou Correa Vietnam Pinning Ceremony
We will be honoring James Leslie Moreland and other Vietnam fallen heroes from California Congressional District-46. If you would like to participate in the March 29, 2019 ceremony, please call Congressman Lou Correa's District Office at (714) 559 6190.
POSTED ON 9.29.2016
POSTED BY: Dennis Wriston
I'm proud of our Vietnam Veterans
Sergeant First Class James Leslie Moreland, Served with Detachment B-16, 1st Mobile Strike Force Command, Company C, 5th Special Forces Group.
POSTED ON 11.15.2013
POSTED BY: Curt Carter ccarter02@earthlink.net
Remembering An American Hero
Dear SFC James Leslie Moreland, sir
As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.
May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.
With respect, and the best salute a civilian can muster for you, Sir
Curt Carter
As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.
May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.
With respect, and the best salute a civilian can muster for you, Sir
Curt Carter
POSTED ON 5.16.2011
POSTED BY: CLAY MARSTON
FOUR-DECADE VIGIL FINALLY ENDS FOR MISSING IN ACTION SPECIAL FORCES SOLDIER
CBS EVENING NEWS
16 MAY 2011
FOUR-DECADE VIGIL FOR MIA VIETNAM VETERAN ENDS
Kathy Strong buries James Leslie Moreland's MIAPOW bracelet after wearing it for nearly 38 years
By Steve Hartman (CBS News)
MONTEVALLO, Alabama -
In Alabama this weekend, closure came in a flag-draped coffin.
After 43 years missing in Vietnam, the recently identified remains of an elite Army Green Beret soldier finally made it home.
'We thank you today Lord, that James Leslie Moreland has returned to the land where he came from,' the preacher said Saturday.
CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman reports the service marked an end to four decades of uncertainty for Moreland's friends, family and one totally devoted, total stranger: Kathy Strong.
Strong never knew James Moreland - but will never forgot him either. 'I made a promise and I wanted to keep it,' she says.
It was a promise she made Christmas day 1972 when Kathy, then 12 years old, got a metal bracelet in her stocking.
It was one of those MIA-POW bracelets which were a popular fad in the 1970s.
Each bracelet bore the name of a soldier who was either still a prisoner in Vietnam or missing in action.
The idea was to wear the bracelet until your veteran came home.
Strong took the commitment more seriously than most.
As her photos can attest - long after the other kids had moved onto bell bottoms and moon rocks, Kathy was still wearing her bracelet.
In fact when we first met her in March - there it was, same place it'd been every second of every day for 38 years.
She says she's never taken it off. 'Nope, had an MRI, had to keep my arm out of the machine, that was difficult,' she added. She was determined to only take it off for him.
'They showed footage back in the day of the soldiers coming off the planes and I always thought 'I'm going to be there and have him put it on his arm,' and that's how I always pictured it,' Strong says. 'But that wasn't meant to be.'
Over the years Strong has really gotten to know Moreland through, his 2 surviving sisters -- who invited her to sit with them at the funeral.
Strong also got special recognition Saturday from Colonel Paul Longgrear, Moreland's commanding officer - and perhaps Kathy's biggest fan.
'This is quality that we just don't hardly find in America anymore,' Longgrear says. 'A commitment to her word even though she was a child.'
For too many of us, 'supporting the troops' is nothing but lip service. Patriotism being nothing but what we wear on our sleeve. Strong, however, with her bracelet, has shown us what being a truly proud American entails
And finally, as for that bracelet, Kathy did with it what she always said she would. The morning before the funeral she took it off and slipped it on the sleeve of Moreland's uniform.
'It's going to be hard. It's going to take some getting used to,' she says. But I've come to learn that whether I'm wearing his bracelet or not, he'll always be with me every day of my life.'
R E M E M B R A N C E
16 MAY 2011
FOUR-DECADE VIGIL FOR MIA VIETNAM VETERAN ENDS
Kathy Strong buries James Leslie Moreland's MIAPOW bracelet after wearing it for nearly 38 years
By Steve Hartman (CBS News)
MONTEVALLO, Alabama -
In Alabama this weekend, closure came in a flag-draped coffin.
After 43 years missing in Vietnam, the recently identified remains of an elite Army Green Beret soldier finally made it home.
'We thank you today Lord, that James Leslie Moreland has returned to the land where he came from,' the preacher said Saturday.
CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman reports the service marked an end to four decades of uncertainty for Moreland's friends, family and one totally devoted, total stranger: Kathy Strong.
Strong never knew James Moreland - but will never forgot him either. 'I made a promise and I wanted to keep it,' she says.
It was a promise she made Christmas day 1972 when Kathy, then 12 years old, got a metal bracelet in her stocking.
It was one of those MIA-POW bracelets which were a popular fad in the 1970s.
Each bracelet bore the name of a soldier who was either still a prisoner in Vietnam or missing in action.
The idea was to wear the bracelet until your veteran came home.
Strong took the commitment more seriously than most.
As her photos can attest - long after the other kids had moved onto bell bottoms and moon rocks, Kathy was still wearing her bracelet.
In fact when we first met her in March - there it was, same place it'd been every second of every day for 38 years.
She says she's never taken it off. 'Nope, had an MRI, had to keep my arm out of the machine, that was difficult,' she added. She was determined to only take it off for him.
'They showed footage back in the day of the soldiers coming off the planes and I always thought 'I'm going to be there and have him put it on his arm,' and that's how I always pictured it,' Strong says. 'But that wasn't meant to be.'
Over the years Strong has really gotten to know Moreland through, his 2 surviving sisters -- who invited her to sit with them at the funeral.
Strong also got special recognition Saturday from Colonel Paul Longgrear, Moreland's commanding officer - and perhaps Kathy's biggest fan.
'This is quality that we just don't hardly find in America anymore,' Longgrear says. 'A commitment to her word even though she was a child.'
For too many of us, 'supporting the troops' is nothing but lip service. Patriotism being nothing but what we wear on our sleeve. Strong, however, with her bracelet, has shown us what being a truly proud American entails
And finally, as for that bracelet, Kathy did with it what she always said she would. The morning before the funeral she took it off and slipped it on the sleeve of Moreland's uniform.
'It's going to be hard. It's going to take some getting used to,' she says. But I've come to learn that whether I'm wearing his bracelet or not, he'll always be with me every day of my life.'
R E M E M B R A N C E