Paul Richard Shafer

Military

"Shafe" as he was known in the war or "Pops" as he was known to the many young people he took under his wing was tight mouthed, but to the point when he had something to say. He hated judgements of all types and gave everyone a fair hearing - which made him a great dean at Dartmouth in the dark years of the late 60s. He was a renown professor who gave it all up to trek around Africa for a year. He was not rich, but gave everything he had to his adopted Ethiopian daughter and son, the one now a professor of emergency medicine and the other an electrical/telcoms engineer. He never spoke of the war and mourned the loss of his radioman/gunner Srg. Maldonado until he died in 1994. He left no money, but a wealth of humanity behind.

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Units served with

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

Aircraft

A B-26 Marauder (KX-D, serial number 42-95930) of the 387th Bomb Group.
  • Aircraft Type: B-26 Marauder
  • Nicknames: Angel Puss
  • Unit: 387th Bomb Group 597th Bomb Squadron

Places

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Capitalized the words in the "Role/job" field to aid readability.

Date
Contributordmshafer
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I am trying to reconstruct what I can of my father's wartime experiences. The only member of his crew I even met - and I was very young - was Buzz Sewell. Buzz left an interesting "diary" of the shoot down, capture and POW experience, that offers the only glimpse I have of my father at that time. The most poignant thing is learned is why my father always called me "Shafe" and not "Shafer" like everybody else. If you know anything about Shafe' war, Angel Puss or her crew, I would love to hear from you.