If you knew or served with this Airman and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
He had a very distinguished career in the USAAF and USAF.
His Silver Star citation: Awarded for actions during the World War II
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Captain (Air Corps) Paul Kendall Carlton (ASN: 0-789133), United States Army Air Forces, for gallantry in action while piloting a B-29 aircraft of the TWENTIETH Air Force, on a combat mission against enemy installations at Mukden, Manchuria, on 21 December 1944. The B-29 air craft piloted by Captain Carlton had just started its bombing run when it was struck by a heavy caliber anti-aircraft shell. As a result of the anti-aircraft shell, Captain Carlton's aircraft sustained extensive damage. In spite of the damage, Captain Carlton continued his bombing run and dropped his bombs on the target. Immediately after the bomb run, Captain Carlton's aircraft was subjected once again to severe and savage attacks by enemy aircraft and his aircraft sustained damage to instruments, oxygen supply and other vital parts of the aircraft. Disregarding the danger of fire as a result of gasoline flooding the bomb bay, and the hazards of flying at high altitude without oxygen, Captain Carlton, by courageous and gallant action and skillful piloting, maintained his aircraft in flight until he succeeded in landing in friendly territory. Captain Carlton's actions saved his crew from disaster and his aircraft from destruction, all in keeping with the highest traditions of the Army Air Forces and reflecting great credit on himself and the XX Bomber Command.
General Orders: Headquarters, 20th Air Force, General Orders No. 24 (February 3, 1945) Action Date: 21-Dec-44 Service: Army Air Forces Rank: Captain Regiment: XX Bomber Command Division: 20th Air Force
Description The plan of the Pacific subseries was determined by the geography, strategy, and the military organization of a theater largely oceanic. Two independent, coordinate commands, one in the Southwest Pacific under General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and the other in the Central, South, and North Pacific (Pacific Ocean Areas) under Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, were created early in the war. Except in the South and Southwest Pacific, each conducted its own operations with its own ground, air, and naval forces in widely separated areas. These operations required at first only a relatively small number of troops whose efforts often yielded strategic gains which cannot be measured by the size of the forces involved. Indeed, the nature of the objectivesùsmall islands, coral atolls, and jungle-bound harbors and airstrips, made the employment of large ground forces impossible and highlighted the importance of air and naval operations. Thus, until 1945, the war in the Pacific progressed by a double series of amphibious operations each of which fitted into a strategic pattern developed in Washington.
21 Named Campaigns were recognized in the Asiatic Pacific Theater with Battle Streamers and Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medals.
