Paul Hatch was born in 1948 in Washington. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on November 4, 1966, and completed basic training at Fort Lewis, Washington, in January 1967. Pvt Hatch next attended Advanced Individual Training as an Aircraft Maintenance Crewman at Fort Rucker, Alabama, from January to March 1967, followed by service as a UH-1 Iroquois aircraft maintenance crewman with the 608th Transportation Company at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from March to June 1967, and then deployed with his unit to South Vietnam from June to December 1967. PFC Hatch then remained in South Vietnam as a UH-1 aircraft maintenance crewman with the 335th Transportation Company from December 1967 until he returned to the United States in June 1968. His next assignment was as a helicopter repairman with the Maintenance Battalion at the U.S. Army Aviation School at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia, from August 1968 until he returned to South Vietnam in January 1969. PFC Hatch was captured and taken as a Prisoner of War on August 24, 1969, but managed to escape and make it back to friendly forces the next day, on August 25, 1969. He then returned to the United States and left active duty on October 29, 1969, receiving his honorable discharge from the Army Reserve on November 3, 1972.

The Soldier's Creed:

I am an American Soldier.

I am a warrior and a member of a team.

I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.

I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.