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Paul Dargan, United States Marine Corps Sergeant, of Hampton Bays died at home on May 24, 2018, of heart disease and cancer. He was 71.
Mr. Dargan was born in Brooklyn on August 27, 1946. After his father’s death, the family moved to Hampton Bays in 1957, where he attended Hampton Bays Public Schools, graduating in 1966, and then enlisted in the Marine Corps. He was assigned to basic infantry training at Parris Island, South Carolina. After basic training, he was transferred to Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and assigned to Vietnam. Mr. Dargan’s unit was Bravo Company, 3rd Recon Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment, which fought in the infamous Battle of Khe Sanh in 1968. During the siege, Mr. Dargan was wounded in the chest and leg by shrapnel. He refused the Purple Heart award and continued being a Marine. At the end of the siege, the Marines went to the Quang Tri (Kwang Tree) province for rest and recuperation. The unit chaplain held a memorial ceremony for the 19 Marines from Bravo Company who were killed in action. Rifles were placed bayonet first into the ground, with helmets placed on the top. Photos that Mr. Dargan took on that day were on display at the Veterans Museum in Madison, Wisconsin. More than 40 years later, he met Steve Alpert, an artist from Quogue, and shared his photos, telling Alpert, “I have your next military painting.” The result was the painting “Journey of Souls,” which now hangs in the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia.
Mr. Dargan was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in October 1969 and returned to Hampton Bays, where he met his wife Diana “Dee” Penny, started a home painting company called “Le Brush Painting,” built their home, and raised their three children.
He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Dee Dargan; his children, Kalen and husband Michael Raynor of Hampton Bays, Lindsey and husband Daniel Antoniou of Port Jefferson Village, and Ryan of Hampton Bays; six grandchildren, Kaya and Carissa Raynor, Vasili, Nikolas, and newly born twins Katerina and Kalliope Antoniou. He is also survived by his sister, Marietta Darcy of Riverhead; and cousin Marie Norwood of Speonk. He was predeceased by siblings, Thomas Dargan, Jane Smith and Lynn Petersohn.
A funeral service was held on Memorial Day at the Living Water Full Gospel Church in Riverhead, followed by a private burial at Calverton National Cemetery on June 6.
on Jun 5, 2018