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BIBB COUNTY, Alabama — A Vietnam-era Green Be­ret whose remains recently were identified will be me­morialized in ceremonies Friday and Saturday, ending with burial in a rural Bibb County cemetery next to his mother and father.

On Friday, family, friends, veterans and state dignita­ries are scheduled to pay re­spects to Bessemer-born James Leslie Moreland at an event at Liberty Hall in American Village in Monte­vallo. The following day, Moreland’s remains will be buried in Brierfield Ceme­tery in Bibb County, with a ceremony to include a eu­logy by Moreland’s former commanding officer, Col. Paul Longgrear. Rockco Fu­neral Home is directing.

Moreland was a 19-year-old Special Forces medic when he was last seen mortally wounded at Lang Vei, on the South Viet­namese border, in one of the war’s most harrowing battles, on Feb. 7, 1968. In 1978, the Army declared Moreland dead, although his remains had not been recovered.

Several excavations at the battle site over the past few decades have yielded nu­merous remains that took years to identify. Late last year, DNA from relatives was a match for Moreland. The family was notified ear­lier this year and prepared for the burial in the family cemetery.

Seven of the 24 Special Forces soldiers at the battle were killed. “Fourteen of us made it out. and so at first 10 were listed as missing,” Longgrear said.

Three of those 10 were later determined to be pris­oners of war and were re­leased in 1973. Of the seven presumed to have been killed in action, including Moreland, the remains of five have been recovered, Longgrear said. Still unac­counted for but presumed dead are James Holt and Daniel Phillips, he said. The Lyman Ward Cadet Honor Guard will participate in both ceremonies. Moreland attended Lyman Ward Military Academy in Camp Hill in the 8th and 9th grades. He went to the 10th and 11th grades at Carlowville School in Dallas County, where he played football and basketball.

He moved to California his senior year and was a standout football player at Western High School in Anaheim.

The Friday ceremony begins at 6 p.m. Saturday’s burial ceremony begins at 1 p.m. Survivors include a brother, Robert Donald Moreland of California, and two sisters, Edna Anita Lamoine, and Linda Brown, both of Washington state.

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