Woman learns brother was hero

Marine Pfc. Danny Lee Paul of Morgan City died a hero while saving the lives of fellow Marines during the Vietnam War. And, now, 49 years later, his sister knows that, too.
Paul’s squad leader in Vietnam, Cpl. Jon Landers, emailed a letter last week to The Daily Review. Landers served with Paul in Vietnam in the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Corps Regiment. They were in the 106 Platoon together.
Landers, 69, of Whitesboro, New York, was recently able to get in touch with members of Paul’s family, who never knew how he was killed.
He is also on a mission to ensure Paul is recognized by his country for his heroic actions.
About five years ago, Landers confirmed with the help of the internet that “Paul never got any medal for his bravery that cost him his life.”
Paul’s younger sister, Myrna Cook, 65, of Morgan City, spoke on the phone with Landers this summer. Paul had an older sister, Jo Ann Randle, who is deceased.
Cook said the family had heard a couple of different stories about how her brother died.
Family members were first told by the Marine Corps that Paul was shot in the head in a foxhole and died instantly, Cook said.
Then, in 1981, the family received a letter from a Marine whom Paul was stationed with, who said Paul had been sitting on the front of a tank and got shot in the head.
“I told him (Landers) what we were told, and he said, ‘Do you want to know the truth?’ and I said, ‘Yes sir. I do,’” Cook said.
Landers told her Paul was killed June 2, 1967, while saving wounded Marines during Operation Union II in the Que Son Valley, Republic of Vietnam. Paul was just 20 years old.
Members of the regiment’s 1st Battalion and some members of the 2nd Battalion walked into an ambush while pursuing North Vietnamese troops. About 440 Marines were caught in the open by 800 to 1,200 North Vietnamese soldiers, Landers said.
Paul was among the many heroes during that battle and one of 110 Marines who died in the operation, Landers said.
Paul ran out in the open during battle twice and pulled back wounded Marines. When he went back a third time to try to save another soldier, he was shot in the neck and died instantly, Landers said.
Three fellow Marines brought Paul’s body to Landers’ foxhole and told Landers “what a hero” Paul was, Landers said.
“He really was a hero” and had “total disregard for his own safety,” Landers said.
“It brings back memories,” Myrna Cook said about recently learning how her brother died. “It hurts, but I’ll see him again one day.”
Cook’s granddaughter, Mariah Cook, emailed Landers July 5 after seeing a post a month or two ago on Facebook that he was trying to get in touch with Paul’s family.
Landers had called local Vietnam veteran Terry Mayon, co-chairman of the Fallen Warriors Memorial in Morgan City, after finding his phone number on the internet. Mayon was able to then get in touch with Myrna Cook through mutual friends.
Mayon received third-hand information on the circumstances of Paul’s death, but Landers was the first person to confirm the facts of the case.
Landers, Jerry Sullivan of Cornelia, Georgia, and Gerry Vollentine of Erie, Pennsylvania, who both served in the same unit as Paul, are working to try to at least get Paul recognized with the Silver Star Medal.
The Silver Star is the third-highest military combat decoration that can be awarded to a member of the United States armed forces. It is awarded for gallantry in action while engaged in action against an enemy of the U.S., according to defense.gov.
“He was a hero. There’s no question about it. … He put his life on the line several times, and it wound up getting him killed,” Sullivan said.
Vollentine returned home just before the operation during which Paul was killed but had served with Paul in Vietnam. Vollentine didn’t find out until the late 1990s that Paul had died when he began searching for other members of his battalion.
“He was just an all-around good Marine and an excellent friend and greatly missed,” Vollentine said.
Paul’s death came at what should have been a happy time for Myrna Cook. She got married the same day Paul was killed.
She went on her honeymoon and came back to Morgan City June 6, 1967. Upon arriving at her parents’ home, a preacher and a representative from the Marine Corps were walking her mom, dad and grandmother to the house, she said.
“I told my husband, I said, ‘Let me out of this car, something’s wrong,’” Myrna Cook said.
That’s when she found out that her parents and grandmother had been brought to the hospital and given shots because they went into shock after learning Paul had been killed.
Paul actually decided to join the Marines because he liked their uniform. He was drafted into the Army after graduating from Morgan City High School, but told his sister he wasn’t “wearing that ugly uniform,” Myrna Cook said.
Paul left for Marine Corps basic training April 29, 1966, and went to Vietnam in September 1966.
“We never laid eyes on him again,” Myrna Cook said.
She wrote letters to her brother every day while he was in Vietnam “to make sure he had a letter coming in.” She kept every letter her brother wrote her.
She described Paul as “a fun-loving person” who loved car racing and was in the process of building a race car. Paul had aspirations of opening a mechanic shop in Morgan City.
Paul’s name is listed on the Wall of Honor at the Fallen Warriors Memorial on the grounds of the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium.