A Combat Controller with the 8th Aerial Port Squadron, MSgt Paradise was lost in a C-123 crash in Vietnam along with 3 other controllers. It remains the largest single loss of CCT life in the Vietnam War. On September 4, 1967, MSgt Paradise and his CCT teammates were aboard a C-123 Provider aircraft supporting operations in Southeast Asia when the aircraft went down. His service during the Vietnam era helped forge the modern identity of Combat Control, adapting their mission from establishing drop zones to coordinating massive air strikes in heavily contested jungle environments. His memory, alongside his lost teammates, remains a cornerstone of CCT history.