Paulson, Merlyn Leroy
Air Force Major sergeant

Merlyn Leroy Paulson from North Dakota, Cass county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Wednesday, March 29, 1972
Death details: On June 12, 1987, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Master Sergeant Merlyn Leroy Paulson, missing from the Vietnam War. Master Sergeant Paulson entered the U.S. Air Force from North Dakota and was a member of the 16th Special Operations Squadron. On March 29, 1972, he was a crew member aboard an AC-130A gunship (tail number 55-0044, nicknamed “Prometheus”) that took off from Ubon Airfield, Thailand, on a night reconnaissance mission to targets east of Savannakhet in southern Laos. The aircraft was shot down by enemy surface-to-air missiles, killing MSgt Paulson and the other crew members. Search and rescue efforts were curtailed due to heavy enemy activity, and no remains could be recovered. Between 1986 and 2006, a joint U.S./Laotian team excavated the crash site in Savannakhet Province and recovered human remains and artifacts. Investigators were able to identify MSgt Paulson among the remains recovered.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency