Their Story
Remembering Paul M. DeMeo.
U.S. Army Ranger 1LT Paul M. DeMeo, 23, of Derry, New Hampshire, died unexpectedly on May 14, 2013, while stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Paul was serving as a rifle platoon leader for Company B, 2nd Battalion, 505th Infantry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, responsible for the health, welfare and performance of 38 paratroopers.
Born at U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands on October 1, 1989, Paul decided to join the military while he was still living on Kwajalein. Within a few months of moving to Derry he joined the Air Force Junior ROTC at Pinkerton Academy, where he was a member of the drill team and Cadet Commander his senior year.
He graduated from Pinkerton in 2007 and from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Management. In 2012 he completed the Infantry Officer Leadership Basic Course, U.S. Army Ranger School and U.S. Army Airborne School, and he joined the 2nd/505th that August.
His awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Air Assault Badge, the Parachutist Badge and the Ranger Tab.
Paul played flute and piano. He joined the Kwajalein swim team at age 4 and held pool records there, and by age 8 he was playing tennis tournaments, including on the youth team that played the Micronesian Cup in Majuro. One summer at West Point he was sent to England to take part in the final field exercises for the graduating class of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and he competed in the Sandhurst competition at West Point every year.
During the force-on-force phase his Plebe year, the opposing team said Paul was the key person to take down. They didn't get him.
Paul was the oldest of four siblings.
