On July 19, 2001, PAUL ROBERT JASPER, died at Virginia Beach General Hospital. He held commissions in all three services and whose active duty spanned the period from World War II through Vietnam.

Born at Eureka Springs, Arkansas, he graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1948 with the degree of BSCE with h onors. He obtained a Masters degree in  engineering from Princeston University in 1954. 

During World War II, he was rated pilot at Luke Field in Arizona and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. As a fighter pilot with the 368th Fighter  Group, he was a member of the first American Squadron to land in the Normandy
Beachhead and provide close air support to ground troops in the fighter bomber role. 

In late June 1944, he parachuted from a damaged aircraft after destroying a
Messerschmitt BF 109. Landing inside the German lines, he was taken prisoner and was
interned as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft 1 on the Baltic Sea Coast until the camp was liberated by the Russian Army at the end of the war.

In 1945, he reverted to inactive Reserve in the Army due to eye damage resulting from diet deficiency while in captivity. When the Air Force was established as an independent organization, his commission with rating of pilot was transfered to that service. He  resigned the Air Force commision in 1948 to accept a regular commission in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps.

Assigned to duty at Port Hueneme, California, Captain Jasper met Ensign Dorothy Louise Marion, Navy Nurse Corps USN, from Mt. Airy, North Carolina, who became
his wife in 1949. Subsequent tours of duty for the two of them included Adak, Alaska; Omaha, Nebraska; Bermuda;, Iwakuni, Japan; Stuttgart, Germany and several
locations on both coasts. He served as the Director of Construction in the field operation in the Republic of Vietnam throughout the year 1968.

At the time of his retirement from the Navy in 1979, Captain Jasper was the Inspector General of the Naval Facilities Command in Washington, DC.

Military decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross,  the Air Medal with seven Oak Leak Clusters from World War II; Legion of Merit with Combat ''V'' from the Vietnam War as well as the RVN Gallantry Cross 3rd Class and the Civil Action Medal.

He was elected to membership in the Sigma XI and Tau Beta PI Engineering Fraternities and to the grade of Fellow in the American Society of Civil  Engineers. He was Registed Professional Engineer in the state of New York and also Maryland; a member of the Order of Dadalians and a member of the Caterpillar Club.

After retiring to Annapolis, he became a consulting engineer to several firms. He was Docent at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and also with Historic Annapolis at the William Paca House in Annapolis. He moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia in June 1997. He attended Eastern Shore Episcopal Chapel. His hobbies included fishing, skiing, gold and landscape painting.

Captain Jasper is survived by his wife, Dorothy Louise Marion Jasper; his two sons, Capt. Stephen Charles Jasper of Virginia Beach and Capt. Eric Jasper of Hawaii
and six grandchildren.

A funeral service was conducted Saturday, July 21. Interment Arlington National Cemetery at 9 a.m., Tuesday, July 4, 2001. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions
may be made to the Washington Hospital Center, 110 Irving St., N.W., Washington,
DC 20010. H. D.

JASPER, PAUL ROBERT
CAPT   US NAVY
VETERAN SERVICE DATES: 11/12/1944 - 05/31/1979
DATE OF BIRTH: 07/17/1921
DATE OF DEATH: 07/19/2001
DATE OF INTERMENT: 07/24/2001
BURIED AT: SECTION 66  SITE 6514
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

Air Medal (8)
 
 
 
 

Legion of Merit