Memories To Share
"I first met Paul when he was assigned to my unit A co. 1/325 AIR 82nd Airborne and later, in July of that year, I was promoted to Sergeant and Paul was assigned as a member of my mortar squad. From the beginning, he showed great ambition and dedication to the unit. He became very knowledgeable and proficient as a soldier. Paul became a great friend of mine and someone that I could count on, not only as a soldier, but as a friend.
Paul was a very dependable person who would do anything he could to help you out. He and a few other guys helped me move into my house shortly after I got married. Paul was always welcomed at my house by my wife and me. We would invite him over for cookouts, parties or just to hang out. We spent a lot of time playing air hockey in the garage and talking about family and friends. Paul shared a lot about his life and family with my wife and me.
During the holidays, my wife and I understood how hard it could be for some people to be away from their families, so we would try to invite a few of the guys over for dinner and to share in the festivities. Paul came over for Christmas and Thanksgiving 2002 and he even promised that he was going to come over for New Years and even though he went out with some friends to celebrate the new year, he still managed to stop by our house. Of course it was at two o'clock in the morning when the door came swinging open, but there was Paul, smiling, as he said, "I told you I would come." He was the designated driver for his friends because he realized that they wanted to go out and have a good time. That is the type of guy he was; very reliable and responsible.
Shortly after that, we deployed to Kuwait to prepare for the Iraq War. Paul was ever vigilant to go, especially since he came from a military family. When we moved into Iraq, though he was in A co. and I was reassigned shortly before the deployment to HHC, I still saw Paul a lot. He never worried about anything that was happening to him and enjoyed doing his job because he was strong in his faith and proud of what he was doing.
One day, I saw Paul guarding the gate at the concrete factory in Baghdad next to our base where we got our drinking water from. He never complained about being over in Iraq, nor did he appear to be overwhelmed. I know that with Paul by their side, his fellow squad members never felt like they were in too much danger because he would have their backs. He was very knowledgeable and very often put in charge of his fellow squad members. Paul was a great soldier and would have been a great leader if he stayed in.
In 2004, the unit returned from Iraq. I left the Army at that time. I still saw Paul occasionally and right before Paul exited the Army in 2004, I saw him and he was excited about where his life might take him after he left. I don't know much about what his plans were because we didn't discuss it too much but I knew that no matter what Paul did, he would do the very best he could. I lost contact with Paul and very frequently, my wife and I would wonder how he was doing. We would talk about visiting him in Colorado and thought about trying to find him. When my wife and I recently looked for Paul, we heard about what happened and it was very upsetting to see a horrible thing happen to a great man who will always be my friend, brother and in my prayers."
- Douglas Ambellan, "Brother in Arms"
"To
the Zeller family:
My name
is Robin Arellano, I live in Estes Park, Colorado and just last evening I
learned of the death of Paul. Words cannot express the deep sorrow we feel
for your family as there are no words in all of the languages in the world
that can express the loss of a child.
I met
your son, ironically, right after the death of my son, Joshua. I believe
that Joshua's roommate had met your son and they were going to live together in
Denver in Josh's old apartment.
Your son
came into our lives at such a horrific time and showed us love and kindness.
He helped my daughter, Emily, tremendously and she never forgot it. Last
week we were looking at pictures of Paul, wondering where he was, as always.
He use to
come up to our house and have dinner with us. He told us many stories of
his family and how much he loved you. He talked at length about how
wonderful my son must have been without even knowing him. He helped my
daughter so much after the death of her brother.
Emily and
Joshua were so close and they did everything together. It was her first
homecoming dance after the accident and she was so heart broken as she and
Josh were going to go together with friends. One night during dinner, Paul
said that he would love to take her and she would have a wonderful time.
True to
his word, he took her out and she had a so much fun. He teased her that
when she got older she was going to be a beauty and he would have to make sure
he kept all the guys in check. We always assumed he would be in our lives.
One day,
we got a call from Tyler and he said that he was leaving to Utah for a couple of
weeks and would be back. He said that Paul would be at their place and
would keep the apartment as he would be gone a short while. That is the
last we heard of Paul. We tried to secure a telephone number from Tyler
but he never did provide it for us. We went so far as to drive to the
apartment to try and find Paul. We were concerned that he was stuck
paying a high rent as Tyler never returned from Utah. We were unable to
find him because they had moved to another apartment complex.
I always
told Paul that he had a home and a place to go when and if he needed to
get away or wanted a home cooked meal. I am so very sorry that we will not
have the privilege of seeing him until we go home to our Father.
I have
some pictures of him that I would like to send you if that is alright.
They are of the evening of the dance. He was so happy and so funny.
At a time when we were not able to breath because of our pain, he brought us all
a happy moment.
I don't
know all the specifics of his death as we heard it from an old friend of my son's. I
am so very sorry for your loss. Every moment of every day I am still
consumed with the loss of my child as I am sure you are.
Know you
are in our prayers and if you every want to ask us any questions about your son,
please feel free to call us or e-mail us at any time.
Respectfully,
Robin
Arellano"
- Robin Arellano, Friend