Captain Paul Louis Pudwill
Minnesota
371 BOMB SQ AF
January 24, 1934
January 10, 1963

Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross


Funeral services will be conducted at Ft. Snelling, Minneapolis, Minnesota Thursday for Captain Paul L Pudwill 29, Son of Mr and Mrs. Henry Pudwill of 168 7th Street SW Oelwein, Iowa.

Captain Pudwill died in the crash of his B-47 Stratojet 90 seconds after taking off from Witchta, Kansas Thursday, January 10, 1963 he had been in the Air Force nine years and was currently stations in Lincoln, Nebraska. Surviving are his wife and five children also his parents and five sisters and three brothers including Joseph Pudwill of Oelwein, (Iowa). Military rites will be held for Captain Pudwill who was the only victim of the crash. His two crew members were able to parachute from the craft which developted mechanical difficulties. -The Oelwein Daily Register.

Captain Paul L Pudiwll was presented the Distinguished Flying Cross, posthumously. On 1/10/1963 while flying a B47, gave the order to eject to his crew when the control system failed. He stayed with his plane in a successful effort to avoid crashing into a residentail area of Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas costing him his life, but saving the lives of his crew and countless citizens.

Alberta Lea Tribune Friday, Jan 11, 1963
B47 Bomber Crashes Kills State Pilot
WICHITA, KANSAS (AP) - A Minnesota pilot was killed but two Air Force officers parachuted to safety from low altitude Thursday night January 10th 1963 as their B47 jet bomber crashed in flames. The body of Captain Paul Louis Pudwill 29, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota was found strapped in his seat after the fire burned out. First Lt. F.T. Medrick, 26, the co-pilot, and Captain H. T. Jones, 34. the Navigator, suffered only mild shock. F. T. Medrick is from Hastings, NY and H.T. Jones is from Oakland, CA.
The bomber was stationed at Lincoln Nebraska Air Force Base and had stopped at Wichita, Kansas's McConnell Air Force Base on a routine training flight. McConnell AFB officers said that 90 seconds after takeoff Captain Pudwill signaled mechanical difficulty with the flight and started to circle back to the base.
Two Witchita brothers, John and Jimmy Hulse said they heard an explosion when the plane was directly over their heads at low altitude. The brothers found F.T. Medrick and H.T. Jones and took them to the McConnell Hosptial.

Sunday Journal And Star Lincoln, Nebraska May 25, 1963.
Program Planned for Memorial Day
Brig. General L.E. Lyle from the Lincoln, Nebraska Air Force Base will present the posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross to Shirley Pudwill widow of Captain Paul Louis Pudwill a Lincoln Air Force Base plane commander who lost his life January 10th 1963 while participating in a aerial flight of a B47 aircraft at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas. On that date as aircraft commander the 29 year old Captain Paul Louis Pudwill gave the order to his crew to eject when the B47's control system failed completely after takeoff and the aircraft stalled at an altitude of 6000 ft. Captain Paul Louis Pudwill stayed with the aircraft in a successful attempt to avoid crashing into a residential area, saving the lives of his crew and countless other citizens.

Capt Paul L Pudwill's son, Dominic becomes Mission Commander at NASA.

Captian Paul Louis Pudwill's son Dominic Lee Pudwill Gorie would become the Mission Commander of the space shuttle Endevour.

His son Dominic was only 6 years old when his father died and his mother would later remarry his adoptive father William Gorie.

Dominic followed his father's footsteps and enrolled in the United States Naval Academy where he studied ocean engineering. Following graduation in 1979, he trained as a pilot and served tours of duty aboard the carriers USS America and Coral Sea. In 1987, he trained as a test pilot and worked at the Naval Air Test Center until the Gulf War, where, stationed aboard the Theodore Roosevelt, he flew combat missions in Operation Desert Storm. Dominic was enroute to his command tour of Strike Fighter Squadron 37 when selected as an Astronaut Candidate.

In 1994 Dominic would begin his NASA Career as Astronaut and was a pilot aboard the space shuttle Discovery in June of 1998, pilot aboard the space shuttle Endevour in Feb 2000, and in Dec 2001 was Mission Commander of the space shuttle Endevour and also Mission Commander in Mar 2008 of the space shuttle Endevour.