Staff Sergeant Paul E. Calkin was born in Jonesboro and served in World War II. His awards include the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart Medal, 5 Air Medals, and in 2013 he was presented the French Legion of Honor Medal, making him an official Knight of France. Leaving his high school senior class before graduation, Paul joined the Army Air Corps, underwent air gunner training, and was assigned to a Boeing B17 heavy bomber known as the Flying Fortress. In October 1943, he was assigned to Thorpe Abbots Air Base in England to the 100th Bomb Group, 349 Squadron of the 8th Air Force. Only one in five of these aircraft crews completed the initial required 25 missions before they could return home to the United States. On his 13th mission to bomb the German ME-109 fighter factory in Regensburg, Germany, anti-aircraft fire and enemy fighters damaged their bomber so severely that they had to ditch in the English Channel. The water was in the low teens, and ice formed over their uniforms before being rescued approximately 30 minutes later by the British Air Rescue Service. Paul Calkin flew 30 air combat missions before reaching the age of 21. Now, Paul is 93 years old and is recognized as part of the generation that lived through World War II.