Edward A. Coffey

Service & Sacrifice

Edward Aubrey Coffey was born on January 8, 1934, and grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the United States Army and built a distinguished career in the Special Forces community, ultimately serving with Detachment B-52, Project Delta, under the 5th Special Forces Group based at Nha Trang.

MSG Coffey's unit specialized in training Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces and the 91st ARVN Ranger Battalion, while also conducting long-range reconnaissance patrols, road watches, hunter-killer missions, and other unconventional warfare operations. Project Delta teams were capable of rapid deployment to volatile areas throughout South Vietnam as directed by MACV.

On August 11, 1967, MSG Coffey was serving as an advisor with a B-52 element operating near Lang Vei, a Special Forces camp approximately five miles southwest of Khe Sanh in Quang Tri Province. During an engagement with North Vietnamese Army forces in the area, MSG Coffey was killed in action. He was 33 years old.

Those who served alongside him remembered MSG Coffey as a soldier of great distinction, the kind of man every young trooper in Special Forces should aspire to emulate. His commitment to his country and his teammates exemplified the highest traditions of the Special Forces community.