Paul …was born in San Francisco on August 4, 1934, and lived in southern California, graduating from Riverside Polytechnic High School in 1952. Paul learned to fly as a young man, flying with his dad and then joining the Air Force in 1953. He became a fighter pilot serving 3 tours in Vietnam and was later stationed as commander of Detachment 1, 48th FIS, at the New Hanover County Airport, where he served and retired as the youngest Lt. Colonel, in the Air Force, at the time. Some called him “the boy Colonel”. He served with distinction and was awarded numerous commendations and decorations for his service.
During his time in the service, Paul lived and served, in Misawa, Japan, first as a maintenance officer, then as an F-100 pilot. Then, through NATO, in 1961 and 1962, he served as an adviser to the South Vietnamese, when the conflict only lasted from 8 am til 5 pm, “civilized hours”, he called it. “At 5 pm, we would get in our helicopter and go back to the hotel.”
Then he served and lived in Homestead, Florida, where he also flew F-100’s, went twice more to Vietnam, and then he flew the F-104-A Starfighter, “a rocket with a man in it”. During this time he participated in a contest called Operation Quick Trip II Time-To-Climb Record Assault, where they flew the F104 straight up into the atmosphere, to see if they could break the current speed record. The outcome is unknown to the author.
Paul also served in Izmir, Turkey, and then he was stationed in Wilmington, NC, where he retired from the Air Force in 1974.
Source: http://www.islandgazette.net/news-18/index.php/obituaries/item/5570-celebration-of-life-paul-da-san-martino-jr
Paul Da San Martino (LtCol USAF, Ret) “Headed West” on December 1, 2016
Paul Da San Martino Jr, 82, former owner of The Beach Club/Shelley’s Tavern and Peppers/The OP Lounge of Carolina Beach; The Patio, Eve’s Restaurant, Wilmington Harley Davidson, and Aeronautics FBO, of Wilmington, has passed away.
Paul has “slipped the surly bonds of earth”, and is now “dancing the skies on laughter-silvered wings”. He passed peacefully on Dec 1, surrounded by his family and close friends. He is survived by his wife and best friend Sue, his loving daughter Debbie, brother Phillip, four grandsons, many nieces, nephews, and great friends. He was preceded in death by his only son Paul III, and his loving parents, Paul Sr. and Mildred.
He was born in San Francisco on August 4, 1934, and lived in southern California, graduating from Riverside Polytechnic High School in 1952. Paul learned to fly as a young man, flying with his dad and then joining the Air Force in 1953. He became a fighter pilot serving 3 tours in Vietnam and was later stationed as commander of Detachment 1, 48th FIS, at the New Hanover County Airport, where he served and retired as the youngest Lt. Colonel, in the Air Force, at the time. Some called him “the boy Colonel”. He served with distinction and was awarded numerous commendations and decorations for his service.
During his time in the service, Paul lived and served, in Misawa, Japan, first as a maintenance officer, then as an F-100 pilot. Then, through NATO, in 1961 and 1962, he served as an adviser to the South Vietnamese, when the conflict only lasted from 8 am til 5 pm, “civilized hours”, he called it. “At 5 pm, we would get in our helicopter and go back to the hotel.”
Then he served and lived in Homestead, Florida, where he also flew F-100’s, went twice more to Vietnam, and then he flew the F-104-A Starfighter, “a rocket with a man in it”. During this time he participated in a contest called Operation Quick Trip II Time-To-Climb Record Assault, where they flew the F104 straight up into the atmosphere, to see if they could break the current speed record. The outcome is unknown to the author. Paul also served in Izmir, Turkey, and then he was stationed in Wilmington, where he retired from the Air Force in 1974.
Paul was confident and larger than life and made so many friends in his forty-plus years in this area. While running Aeronautics and the Patio, in the mid 1970s, he met Hoss Ellington, a Winston Cup (now NASCAR) car owner. He also had an airplane and needed a pilot to fly to races. So Paul flew Hoss and many other people to races for a couple of years. He met and “played” with many interesting folks on the team and on the race circuit. For a time he helped the team calculate their gas consumption, he was a natural with numbers.
Paul worked hard. Starting in 1978, while attending UNCW to get his accounting degree, he was also running five bars and a restaurant. And he played even harder, driving his Corvettes, riding motorcycles, or running his boat up and down the waterway (yeah, Paul liked to go fast).
He enjoyed sparring with the town of Carolina Beach, they wrote him up -many times for ordinance vio1ations, but he always won. Paul also liked building things, in a minute, he would decide, today we’re going to remodel one of the bars, or the house, or the barn, or put in a swimming pool, or build something else.
He also liked to travel. Though he didn’t like the time it took to get there, not after he had flown fighters at Mach 2, he did enjoy being in different places and meeting new people. He enjoyed camping, not the “roughing it” type of camping, more like the luxury style of camping, especially later in life. He enjoyed cooking, telling stories, telling or hearing jokes, and limericks and he really liked having family and friends around to enjoy these with and having a good time. Life was never dull…
“And even in our sleep,
Pain that cannot forget,
Falls drop by drop upon the heart.
And in our own despair,
against our will, comes wisdom to us,
by the awe-full grace of God.”
Paul will be missed so very much by all of us.
There was a “Celebration of Life” for Paul on Sunday, January 15th, at the American Legion Post 129, located at 1600 Bridge Barrier Rd. Carolina Beach. Everyone who knew and loved Paul was invited to attend.
Source: http://www.islandgazette.net/news-18/index.php/obituaries/item/5570-celebration-of-life-paul-da-san-martino-jr
