Leo Paul Clouthier
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Paul Clouthier was born in 1918 in Worcester, Massachusets. He joined the Navy in 1939, and by late 1941 found himself eastbound to join the Flying Tigers. Assigned to the Hells Angels squadron as operations clerk, Paul maintains that clerical duties were actually a rarity. In addition to keeping the logistics straight on the average 12 to 14 AVG P-40s operating in his squadron at a time, he often perfomed tasks such as driving needed items over the Burma Road or assisting Chinese interpreters in the early-warning radio net plot the approaching enemy. During the AVGs famous 1941 Christmas Day battle, Clouthier was wounded by Japanese shrapnel in the arm, leg and face. He recalls, 'I was in a foxhole, watching Duke Hedman become an ace while I became a casualty. It wasn't too bad, though; they just sewed me up, and I was back in no time.' After the AVG, Clouthier entered flight school, where he was considered a big wheel to the new cadets, being a wounded AVG veteran. 'I was big publicity for the base, ' he remembers, 'and they took care of me.' After the war, he assisted the Army in discharging returning veterans. Being newly married, he entered the Insurance industry and would spend the next few decades raising a family and being employed primarily by Metropolitan Life. Retiring in 1977, he relocated in Las Vegas, Nevada, and embarked on a southern California to Canada bicycle trip (taking time out only to attend the AVG reunion in Ojai, California!!) Sadly, Paul Clouthier died on 24th October 2007. |