Paul, James Lee
Army Warrant officer
James Lee Paul, age 22, from Riverview, Michigan, Wayne county.
Service era: Vietnam
Parent: Orval L. Paul
Date of death: Friday, February 5, 1971
Death details: On February 5, 1971, an AH-1G Cobra (tail number 66-15340) with two crew members took part in an extraction mission near Khe Sanh, in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. Shortly after the start of the mission, the Cobra entered heavy cloud cover. While climbing to escape the cloud, the aircraft impacted a mountainside. Aircraft accompanying the Cobra immediately began a visual search of the area and located the crash site at the base of Hill 1015. Investigation of the crash site recovered the remains of the Cobra’s pilot; however, the copilot’s remains could not be located or identified.
Warrant Officer 1 James Lee Paul, who joined the U.S. Army from Michigan, was a member of Troop D, 3rd Squadron, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized). He was the copilot of this Cobra and he was lost with the aircraft. His remains were not recovered following the incident. Today, Warrant Officer 1 Paul is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com, Escanaba Daily Press (1971)