Albert William Paine, Jr. 1928-1996

Our Dad was a great father, a loving husband, a conscientous employee, a patriotic citizen, and a faithful Church worker. He grew up in San Francisco, and it seems at an early age developed an interest in the military. The attack on Pearl Harbor happened when he was thirteen and San Francisco soon became busy with military activity. Dad said in his memoirs, "It was an exciting time for a thirteen year old boy. There were lots of planes in the air, hundreds of naval vessels in the bay, and thousands of servicemen in the city. Two of my cousins were in the Navy and visited us when their ships were in port, with exciting stories to tell." Dad graduated from Brown Military Academy in San Diego, then enlisted in the Army in 1946 at the age of eighteen. In the Army, he excelled at and later taught advanced mathematics, played clarinet in a band, was in Airborne and Artillery, and served in two wars.

He was proud to serve his country though he was often away from us. While I was growing up, I remember being so proud and thrilled to see him in his uniform, marching on the parade grounds with a band playing one of the Sousa Marches that Dad liked so well and the flags flying, it would give me goosebumps, or coming down the ramp of a C141 after spending months training in Alaska.

The quality I admired most about Dad was his dedication and commitment to his work, both in the Army and in his second career as a surveyor for the Union Pacific Railroad. I've tried to follow his example in my life and have at times been fortunate to feel the satisfaction of a job well done. Dad continued to do his very best in his work as a volunteer conductor at the Union Station Museum after his retirement. He was so excited to guide my family and myself through the Museum last summer and it was plain to see his thorough knowledge and genuine interest in the exhibits.

Dad didn't have the time to finish his memoirs, but told a lot about his early years, much of which I had never heard. He said, "I remember that although in California we were still in the Depression, it was a great time and place to be an active, growing boy," He goes on to recount the activities he enjoyed most, including wandering thru the city, which he explained was safe in those days; also re-enacting WWI with toy soldiers in the back yard with his best friend, and visiting his cousin Ralph, a fireman, at the firestation. But he said that his favorite pastime of all was reading, and I'm very thankful to him for passing on to me the love of books and reading which has always been my favorite pastime, sometimes to the displeasure and annoyance of my family. All of Dad's eight children share his passion for reading.

Dad survived many battles in his life. He started life losing all of the most important people to him including his father, mother and grandparents by the time he was thirteen years old, but survived to lead a productive, happy life.

He survived the Korean War, fighting in minus 40 degree weather and having bullets pass thru his helmet and jacket without harming him, in order to come home, meet and marry our Mother.

He survived what was described by Time Magazine as one of the biggest, bloodiest battles of the Vietnam conflict. As the U.S. Troops were about to be overun by the VC Army, he was hit in the left arm, narrowly missing his heart, and though his hand was paralyzed and unusable, he continued to do his job as platoon sergeant by directing the fire of the men in front of him and also continuing to fire his own weapon to protect himself. Luckily, just in the nick of time, they were rescued by a delayed tank battalion.

He also survived a battle with a train while working on a railroad bridge in Nevada. He and a co-worker were surveying on the bridge when they heard the sound of a train approaching. According to the schedule, there wasn't supposed to be a train at this time. They couldn't jump from such a height, so they ran for the end of the bridge, making it only moments before the train passed.

But he couldn't survive this last battle, though he fought bravely. On Friday, March 15, 1996 he received his final orders, and as usual had to go ahead, leaving his family behind to join him at a later date. Good-bye Dad, we love you and we'll meet you at your new post one day.

Source: [not available] home.earthlink.net/~kilgour/awp.htm