Vietnam MIA soldier’s remains discovered, to be buried in Bibb County

By Daniel L. Bamberg

photo - Kathy Strong holding a picture of and wearing the MIA bracelet of U.S. Army Green Beret SP4 James Moreland.  She has been wearing the bracelet since receiving it as a teenager for Christmas in 1972.  She vowed to wear it until the soldier was discovered and brought home.  On May 14th Moreland's recently discovered remains will be buried next to his parents in Ashby.  Strong will attend the ceremony and place the bracelet with Moreland's remains.

Lying at rest in Ashby Cemetery are Fred and Gladys Moreland, longtime Brierfield residents.  Just next to them is an empty spot, which is marked for their son, U.S. Army Green Beret SP4 James Moreland, who was declared missing in action in Vietnam on February 7, 1968.

Now Moreland’s remains have been discovered, retrieved and will be placed in their proper final resting place in Bibb County.  This ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 14^th.

Sp4 Moreland was presumed dead after a battle occurred at Lang Vei in South Vietnam. 

“It was emotional coming up on the 43^rd anniversary,” explained Moreland’s sister Linda Brown, who now lives in the state of Washington close to another Moreland sister, Edna LaMoine.

“We never gave up hope.  Even if it was just one bone fragment we would be able to say that our brother was found,” Brown expressed.

There is an interesting and heart warming connection to SP4 Moreland and California resident Kathy Strong.  In 1972, when Strong was only 12 years old she asked for an MIA bracelet because they had become a popular trend.  On Christmas morning she was pleasantly surprised to find a bracelet under the tree with the name, James Leslie Moreland.

After the Contra Costa Times published a story about Strong and the bracelet the Moreland family made contact with her.  Since then she has become close to those who survived SP4 Moreland. 

In the story printed in the Contra Costa Times, Strong explained that she made a promise to wear the bracelet until Moreland came home, and only then would she stop wearing it and give it back. 

Strong has lived up to that promise and will attend the burial service in Bibb County where she will relinquish the bracelet to be placed with the remains of the fallen hero.

The service will be conducted by Moreland’s commanding officer and ordained minister, Paul Longgrear, a resident of Pine Mountain, Georgia. 

“He was a great guy, a great looking kid with a lot of confidence,” explained Longgrear.  He had that swagger.”