Just over six weeks ago Donald L. Paulson, 87, of Dodgeville, Wis., died at Upland Nursing & Rehab Center in that city. It happened on Dec. 15, 2009. That could be just a fact about a person who died somewhere else. However, there’s a strong local connection with this particular member of the Paulson family who became known as the “Hump” pilot.

Don Paulson was born in Albert Lea on Oct. 18, 1922, the son of Chris and Lillian Paulson. He graduated from Albert Lea High School in 1941 and became a member of the U.S. Army Air Corps the following year.

Don took his basic training at Camp Robinson, Ark., and the pilot training at air bases in Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma. Upon completion of this training he received his pilot wings emblem and the rank of second lieutenant.

His first real military assignment was as an instructor and in charge of a instrument flight training school at Altus Army Air Field, Kan., for three months. This was followed in early 1944 by overseas duty in the CBI Theater during World War II. Those initials were based on China-Burma-India.

Don’s duty as a member of the Air Transport Command was to pilot a C46 twin engine cargo plane over the Hump to supply Chinese and American forces fighting the Japanese.

The use of the word “hump” came evolved during World War II because aircraft had to fly from India to China over world’s highest and most remote mountain range, the Himalayas.

Japanese forces had invaded Burma and cut off the best land route to central China. As a result the best alternative right then was to use aircraft to transport troops and supplies to China. And right at that time the intention was to keep units of the Japanese forces really involved in China. Thus, Japan would have fewer troops available to fight against American forces in the Pacific theater.

In later years Don explained that the aircraft transported armaments, bridge sections, small boats, vehicles, soldiers and airmen, food and anything else needed to fight the Japanese enemy. One load he recalled was 25,000 pounds of bulldozer tires. Another type of load his C46 hauled was 32 drums or barrels, each containing 55 gallons of 100 octane aviation gasoline. That last type of cargo, combined with adverse weather and flying on round trip routes over the high Himalayas made this wartime duty really dangerous. An added factor came with most of the missions being flown at night.

Paulson logged over 2,500 flight hours and 20-plus missions over the Hump. For this service he was awarded the Flying Cross and promoted to the rank of first lieutenant.

Don was discharged in late 1945 and as a civilian soon became a salesman for the Ohio Chemical Co. of Madison, Wis., for 15 years. This was followed by 20 years of employment with Borg Warner Corp. of Chicago, Ill.

After retirement, he lived in Dodgeville, a small city 35 miles or so west of Madison.

About eight years ago friends and family urged him to write a book about his experiences as C46 pilot flying over the Hump. What evolved in 2005 was a book based on this little known phase of World war II. The main title was “CBI in the Raw.”

An article about Paulson and his new book was in the July 28, 2005, issue of the Dodgeville Chronicle. And, very appropriately, an article by Geri McShane about this book and the author’s visit to Albert Lea to visit relatives appeared in the Oct. 2, 2005, issue of the Tribune.

Special thanks go to Don Paulson’s sister, Shirley Wright of Albert lea, who gets full credit for inspiring this column about a fellow veteran.

Here’s a postscript based on last week’s column. A question was asked about the location of an Albert Lea neighborhood called Germania. A nice gentleman who is a local expert on railroads said this part of the city was once based somewhat on the area around West Seventh Street and Poplar Avenue.

Ed Shannon’s column has been appearing in the Tribune every Friday since December 1984.