The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
THE LIFE OF A BOMBARDIER
Boyd Paquin: WWII veteran’s life story recorded for future generations
CANASTOTA, N.Y. » As a World War II bombardier, Boyd Paquin has a lot of stories to tell.
At the Canastota Public Library, Madison County Historian Matthew Urtz sat down with Paquin on Tuesday as part of an effort to record the lives and feats of local soldiers.
Paquin was born in Watertown and grew up in Felts Mills, N.Y., a little town on the Black River between Carthage and Watertown. Paquin recalled standing and playing on logs floating down the Black River as a kid.
Graduating from the four- room Felts Mills schoolhouse in 1939 at the age of 16, Paquin started working with his father as a painter and paper hanger, while working on their farm.
Urtz asked Paquin if he enlisted himself or if he was drafted when Amer-
ica joined the war. Paquin laughed at the question.
“I was drafted. They came and got me, kicking and screaming,” Paquin said.
Paquin was drafted three days after he turned 20 by the Army-Airforce. At the time, Paquin said, the Air Force was part of the Army and not separate. During his training, Paquin was offered a chance to take an aviation exam and fly planes.
“You needed an 83 and I got an 84. And I didn’t know anything about airplanes,” Paquin said. “I ended up in Fort Kelly, Texas and I was in the pilot program. But nothing was happening for around two months, so I went over to the headquarters and found out I could sign up as a bombardier and start then.”
Paquin became a bombardier in the Eight Air Force 2490th Bomber Group, 851st Squadron and took part in 30missions, 10 in a B-24 and 20 in a B-17.
“As a bombardier, you would drop the bombs down sight, you would be a gunnery officer and a first aid officer,” Paquin said. “I went to gunnery school in Laredo, Texas and after, I was shipped to Salt Lake City as they put the crew together.”
Paquin trained for 5 months and earned a promotion to lead bombardier in Mountain Home, Idaho. Paquin’s crew got their overseas orders and started their trip towards the front lines, first going through Nebraska, then Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Brazil and Marrakesh, Africa.
“We had a little experience in Marrakesh. We had an automatic pilot and it locked out on us,” Paquin said. “It put us in a dive, but luckily our pilot didn’t unbuckle his seat belt when hewas flying andgot it back on the level.”
After a trip to Prestwick, Scotland and into the heart of England, Paquin and his crew started their bombing runs against German forces.
“What was a typical mission for you?” Urtz asked.
“Everyone got their briefings and the day of the mission, you got fried, fresh eggs. The only time you ever sawthem,” Paquin said. “We had to load up the plane and then sit there and wait to take off. And you gotta realize, that plane isn’t that big. And there are 1,000 airplanes taking off.”
“What are you doing while the pilot is flying?” Urtz asked.
“Nothing. I’m sitting up there with two guns and looking,” Paquin said. “We were lucky, because we never had a fight with a fighter pilot. We had to shoot our guns when we got over the English Channel, but that was about it.”
Paquin said his crew’s worst mission was Frankfurt, Germany. In Frankfurt, they had two engines shot out before they could get to the target. Losing altitude and hovering around 10,000 feet all alone, Paquin’s crew flew all the way across Germany, France and the English Channel, where they reached an airfield on the edge of England.
“The English Air Force base, my God, it was like a college dormitory they had for the officers. Beautiful living quarters. Nothing like we had,” Paquin said. “We stayed there overnight and since our plane was full of holes, they sent us a new one.”
When asked aboutD-Day, Paquin said he and his crew found out what was happening the night before.
“We flew three missions that day and I got noth- ing to talk about,” Paquin said. “Weflewover the coast and we didn’t have radar at the time. We flew three missions on D-Day and didn’t drop a bomb. Few guys would admit that. We couldn’t see the ground, it was too cloudy. We turned around and came home three times.”
Urtz asked Paquin if anything ever happened that made him stop and wonder or question.
“We carried a bomb load, but we also carried two 55 gallon drums of napalm. Now, I didn’t think about it until after the war. AndI realized, that wasn’t for targets, that was for people,” Paquin said. “I thought that wasn’t good.”
In December 1945, Paquin and his crew finished up their missions and got orders to head back home.
“I stole everything I could get that I could come home with I thought I’d like,” Paquin said. “Baseball equipment and a couple of guns, you know stuff I had but didn’t turn back in. They actually kicked me off the plane, because I had so much weight. So I’m left and had to wait three days when finally a big C-54 came through. I was the only passenger.”
After getting home to Washington D.C., Paquin said he found out what it was like to be an officer. Waiting for him at the airport was someone with a sign with his name and orders to drive him to the hotel where he would be staying; after a trip to the mess hall.
“They put two jugs of milk on my tray and when that was gone, he put another. And the steak, that was good,” Paquin said.
Paquin’s military career continued right up until the end of the war, but instead of fighting on the front lines, he was transferred to Texas to train Brazilian cadets on howto be a bombardier. Paquin said he didn’t know if they ever got a chance to fight, but was happy to come home after being discharged, rather than heading to the South Pacific like he was originally ordered.
Back home, Paquin worked a year painting but stopped after saving up enough money to attend Sampson College near Geneva, N.Y.
“I was there a year and a half and thinking about getting out when I saw a sign that said ‘Colgate’. I got into a long line and out of the whole mob, I was one of the two they took,” Paquin said. “I got into Colgate and graduated. I got my first teaching job in Earlville. A teacher was pregnant and had to quit the middle of the year. Someone came over to Colgate looking for someone to finish up the year and they took me. I taught there for a year and a half.”
Paquin transferred out of his teaching position in Earlville and left for Stockbridge Valley.
“I taught at Stockbridge for 15 years teaching math and science, but after moved into guidance,” Paquin said. “Andafter that I became the vice principal.”
When he was close to retiring, Paquin and his wife moved down south to Florida, but Paquin still keeps in touch with his former students and the Stockbridge Valley Class of 1957.
“Every year, I come back up to visit my daughter and have breakfast withmy students,” Paquin said. Urtz urged attendees from the class of 1957 to standup and upon seeing his students, Paquin said he didn’t understand how they got so old.
Norman Luther was one of the 25 people in attendance and drove out from Carthage to see him.
“I’m 84 years old. And it’s just something for him to be able to tell his story at his age,” Luther said. “I don’t even expect to remember my own name in a few years.”