PAUL E. GARDINER, born 24 May 1918 in Cherokee, Oklahoma. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma, he joined the Army Air Forces in April 1941 and attended the Aviation Cadet flying schools at Tulare, Taft and Stockton, California, receiving a Reserve commission with Class 41-I four days after the Pearl Harbor attack.

After assignments as Combat Pilot, 54th Fighter Group, Paine Field, Washington; Combat Pilot, 20th Fighter Group, Charlotte Field, North Carolina; and Flight Commander, 337th R.T.U., Tampa and Sarasota, Florida, where he flew the first model of the P-47 towing aerial gunnery targets in 1943, Paul became the first Group Operations Officer of the 405th Fighter Bomber Group which trained at Walterboro, South Carolina.

As a member of the advance party of the 405th, Paul arrived at Christchurch, England in January 1944. While waiting for the deployment of the Group, he flew 5 combat missions with the 56th from an East Anglia base. At Christchurch, Paul took one of the first four P-47D.16's (uncamouflaged) and alternated with the Commander and Deputy Commander as Group Leader on high altitude B-17 escort missions when the 405th became operational in March 1944.

A few weeks prior to D-Day, he was designated Commander of the 509th Squadron and was promoted to Major. His squadron was first off the ground from Christchurch on D-Day.

Twelve days later, he was shot down attacking a heavily defended ammo dump near St. Lo, France, on his 49th mission. With his plane on fire and the rudder controls shot out, he managed to get from the deck to 400 feet where the stick cables burned through. In attempting to bailout, his shoulder harness became entangled and he opened the back-pack chute while hanging half-out the cockpit; he landed on his rump, with both feet tangled in the shrouds of the chute and survived the lowest bailout reported at that time, with only broken ribs, dislocated shoulder and a leg wound.

After forty days as an evadee in the area around Cerisy la Salle, France, Paul was "uncovered" by advancing U.S. tank elements following the St. Lo breakthrough.

His second E.T.O. tour was with the XIX TAC as assistant A-3, where he helped plan Third Army support operations and flew experimental test flights of AIBR (automatic integrated bomb release) and TSP (target strike photo) equipment mounted in P-47's.

In 1947, after receiving a regular Air Force commission, Major Gardiner was assigned as Fighter Training Officer, Air Force Section, U.S. Military Mission for Aid to Turkey. There, with the help of one tech Sergeant and twelve TAF pilots who spoke English, he checked out three TAF P-47 groups in six months with only one major accident.

After his assignment as Tactical Unit Training Officer (P-47, B-26 and C-47), Paul took his last flight in a P-47 in December 1949.

Colonel Gardiner had his last fling with combat air support operations, flying A-l's with the South Vietnamese Air Force during 1965-66. When he was Air Force Advisory Team Commander at Bien Hoa and Director of Operations, Air Force Section, MACV, he had 41 combat missions in South Vietnam.

His military decorations include 2 Legions of Merit; Distinguished Flying Cross; 8 Air Medals; Purple Heart; Presidential Unit Citation; Joint Service, Army and Air Force Commendation Medals; Bronze Star; VNAF Flying Cross and Air Medal; Turkish AF and Chinese AF Commendation Medals.