Paul Fitzgerald Jr., missing since Vietnam, is remembered by his family who keeps hope alive decades later.
FORT VALLEY, Ga. — Over 80,000 American service members remain missing in action, with countless more having been prisoners of war.
Among them is Paul Fitzgerald Junior, a 20-year-old Vietnam War soldier who vanished nearly six decades ago. His family – based in Fort Valley – still holds on to hope and memories.
“His birthday was October 3rd. And they came knocking on the door on October 17th,” said his sister Tiny Davis. “They just said they had news about Paul Junior and they just told us what happened.”
Paul was a young soldier when he went to Vietnam. The last letter the family received was written on Sept. 12, 1967.
“Every letter he said that, ‘I’ll be home in May,’” Davis said.
Despite decades of uncertainty, his sisters, Tiny Davis and Geraldine King, have never given up hope.
“I have dreamed about him on occasions, but he would never say anything to me. He’d just look at me and fade away,” Davis said.
They were told the last time Paul was seen was loading wounded soldiers onto a helicopter amid chaos and fire.
“He says they was going up. He said he was looking, he said it was just fire everywhere, fire everywhere,” Kind said.
Davis said she wishes she could talk to him one more time.
“I would say is, ‘I love you so much. I miss you.’ I call him ‘brodger.’ I miss, I miss you brodger. I wish you were here with us,” Davis said.
His family says they find comfort knowing the POW-MIA flags raised across Central Georgia serve as a reminder that Paul and thousands of others are not forgotten, and his memory remains alive.
