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 1923 - 1974 (51 years)
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| Name |
Paul Jones JOHNSON |
| Born |
20 Feb 1923 |
Macon, Bibb County, Georgia  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Died |
28 Jul 1974 |
Macon, Bibb County, Georgia [1] |
| Buried |
Macon Memorial Park Cemetery, Bibb County, Georgia |
- Memorial ID 146567167
Inscription: T SGT ARMY AIR FORCE
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| Notes |
- Paul enlisted in the United States Army Air Force on 31 Mar 1943, at age 20.
Flight training took place at McDill Air Force Base, Tampa Florida where he was technically trained as a Radio Operator on the B-17 Flying Fortress.
Paul was assigned to:
15th Air Force
301st Bombardment Group Heavy
352nd Bomb Squadron
From McDill, he and his crew flew to Brazil and then on to Tunisia in Northern Africa. From there, they flew to Lucera Airfield near Lucera Italy, arriving on Sunday, 17 September 1944.
He flew his first mission the following Wednesday, 20 September 1944
Over the course of the next 7 months, he flew 52 missions. At the time he enlisted the standard tour of duty was 25 missions. This number increased to 30 and then to 35 but the commitment was to serve for the duration of the war.
There were two missions in which their B-17 Flying Fortress was badly damaged.
On Friday, 13th October 1944, they ?returned to base from Vienna with No 4 Engine out and Tokyo Tanks punctured.?
On Friday, 16th 1945, they were returning to base from a mission over Munich Airdrome, Germany and the..." No 2 Engine wouldn't feather. Returned to base alone. Just cleared Alps. Ship was shaking badly. Cowling and part of engine was shaken off. Started to bail out in middle of Germany, then we started to go to Switzerland. Ship stopped shaking so badly and we manged to get back to base with empty gas tanks."
WWII ended in Europe on 8 May 1945 with the invasion of Germany and the fall of Berlin
Due to the number of missions he had flown, Paul was among the first to be discharged after the war.
Paul was awarded:
European?African?Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters (equivalent of 3 Air Medals)
Four Battle Stars
Good Conduct Medal
In civilian life, Paul was a commercial builder and in the late 1950?s was engaged by the United States Army Corp of Engineers to build a new runway at Robins Air Force Base. This was in response to a Strategic Air Command effort to place nuclear alert aircraft on the eastern side of the base. SAC units at Robins were then able to operate the long range B-52 "Stratofortresses".
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| Person ID |
I10 |
Johnson & Hanson |
| Last Modified |
2 Jul 2022 |
| Father |
Paul Dean JOHNSON, b. 15 Jan 1882, Macon, Bibb County, Georgia , d. 03 Feb 1955, Macon, Bibb County, Georgia (Age 73 years) |
| Mother |
Sallie Blanny JONES, b. 14 Aug 1886, GA , d. 10 May 1959, Macon, Bibb County, Georgia (Age 72 years) |
| Married |
27 Nov 1907 |
| Family ID |
F2 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Event Map |
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 | Buried - - Macon Memorial Park Cemetery, Bibb County, Georgia |
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| Sources |
- [S11] Georgia Deaths 1919-1998_ Paul J Johnson.
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