JEFFREY PAUL (USAF E4, Vietnam-Era Veteran)

Former USAF Sgt. Jeffrey Paul has been standing up for his beliefs all his life. He learned the skill from his dad in his youth. This family backdrop fostered a love of teaching, sharing, enlightening people along the way. He’d planned to make a career of teaching kids, but the US military dashed that hope. Yet he was lucky enough to have MOS’s where he could teach by training and coaching in sports programs across the USAF. Then he stood up for his beliefs and thousands of veterans as Director of VA Recreational Therapy in Albuquerque for 30 years. Concurrently, he became the guru for writing political letters to the editor of publications near and far for decades – sharing his views based on his beliefs. 

EARLY LIFE: POLITICS, BEACH MUSIC, AND SPEAKING UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE

Jeffrey Paul (USAF E4 veteran) spent most of his childhood in a Detroit suburb in the 1950’s. Jeff’s dad gave up using his mechanical engineering degree from the University of Michigan to take over his father’s clothing stores (a devoted Jewish son) until he went to work for Dow Chemical. His dad also was involved in local Democratic politics. Jeff assumed that political activism was just a part of life. “Dad even ran for sheriff once (unsuccessfully) in a Republican stronghold county. He was connected. We’d get Christmas and Hanukkah cards from the governor and other elected officials. I thought everybody did!” Jeff recalled. “I got my first experience in politics canvassing for Senator Adlai Stevenson (who ran against Dwight D. Eisenhower for president in 1952 and 1956) because my dad asked me to help. I wanted to do that. I’ve been supporting Democratic values ever since.” Jeff’s mom was a “stay-at-home” mom. She was quite active in volunteer and charity work as well as her weekly Bridge Club.

The family moved to Los Angeles when his dad got transferred there with Dow Chemical. Jeff was 13. Growing up in LA at the time beach music surfaced was a teenager’s dream. “It was all right there. The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, the Righteous Brothers, and all the other groups. The Righteous Brothers performed at a sock hop at my high school. Not trusting my memory, I always wondered if I remembered that right. I did. It was confirmed at the Righteous Brothers 50-year anniversary concert we went to in Las Vegas. They talked about their music beginnings, doing high school sock hops during the early 60’s in our area of LA.”

Life simmered down when they moved back to Michigan for Jeff’s senior year. He played football in high school and wrestled in high school and college. Jeff earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education from Central Michigan University in 1970. He later used the GI Bill to earn a Master of Arts degree in Recreational Administration from Michigan State University in 1979. He also used the GI Bill to work towards a Doctorate in Therapeutic Recreation at the University of New Mexico.

MILITARY LIFE: In 1970, the US began turning over military control to the South Vietnamese Army and then-President Nixon rescinded draft exemptions for teachers and other occupations. Jeff had planned to get a teaching job right out of college but got drafted instead. “I didn’t want to go the Army. So, I enlisted in the US Air Force and went in the same day I was supposed to report for the Army,” he explained. He did it his way, with purpose.

“I was older than most recruits in Basic Training at Lackland AFB in Texas. My drill instructor, who had a background in teaching, took notice of this and my degree. To my surprise, he arranged for my MOS to be a physical conditioning specialist in the base gym at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma City,” Jeff recalled.

All but his final USAF assignment were commandeered by Air Force brass who assigned him to coaching teams and working in sports facilities at bases at home and abroad. While at Tinker, he was ordered to report to Danang AFB in Vietnam. Two generals who worked out at the gym with him every day, unknowingly got him assigned to Sembach AFB near Frankfurt, Germany, instead. They wanted to keep his skills in a non-war zone. “On my first day at Sembach AFB, Germany the Commander of Morale, Welfare and Recreation said he wanted me to be his base football team’s head coach. He asked me if I played football in college. I said, ‘No, sir, but I wrestled in college and served as a volunteer coach for a local high school team in college.’ Being a 2-striper in Germany, then a 3-striper – they liked me, probably because I was older than most recruits. With my degree in Physical Education, working in the base athletic program was a natural and I was able to organize and run my program successfully. I spent a lot of my time traveling in Europe and England coaching the football and racquetball teams, as well as traveling with other base teams as the Athletic Department representative.” he recalled.

“I was in Germany for two years but it was a monthly poker game that took me down. One guy who rarely won worked in the Assignments Section of Personnel. He got even with me and another poker player who seemed to always take his money. He got our asses sent to the tundra – Loring AFB in Maine (closed in 1994.) I worked in the base gym there for nine months, then took an early out. I took it because I wanted to get out of eight feet of snow and -40 degrees temperatures six months of the year. And I wanted to teach,” he not-so-jokingly said. “I was an E-4, Sgt. when I was discharged in 1974 (E-4 was a Sgt. in those days).

LIFE AFTER THE MILITARY included a 30-year career with the VA and a few shorter term jobs that built on Jeff’s military experience and education, but he also started pursuing a passionate avocation – writing effective letters to the editor of publications local and nationwide, to express his views on topics important to him. This passion harkened back to his father’s passion – standing up for your beliefs in our democratic society.

30 Years at the VA – mostly in NM: “When I got out, I wanted to work as a civilian working for the military but there were no jobs. So, I worked for four years in municipal recreation before I started my 30-year VA career with three years as a Recreational Therapist in Grand Rapids MI. I served veterans with psychiatric diagnoses who lived in group homes. I taught group homeowners how to keep their residents active and out in the community. I was on the road a lot. But I still yearned for the warm climate of the Southwest,” he explained. 

 “I was offered the San Antonio VA Medical Center Director of Recreational Therapy post in 1980, but I turned it down. San Antonio wasn’t dry enough for me. Luckily, the next day I was offered the same job in Albuquerque, and I took it. I had driven through here in the past and remembered coming through the canyon and the view of the city that opened before me. I served at the VA here for the next 27 years,” he explained.

 “I am a vet, so working for the VA was pretty important. A big part of my job was working with outpatients and group-home owners, developing social skills and how to have an active lifestyle when they returned home. I encouraged all our vets to adopt the mindset — ‘stay active to stay healthy.’ We did lots of field trips. We always got front row tickets to state fair concerts and wrestling matches at Tingley. I used my role at the VA to get the best experiences for our clients. Almost everybody said yes to my ticket requests,” he said proudly. Then his VA role shifted to more paperwork and less time with clients. “I didn’t like that, so I retired after 30 years.

When Jeff moved to Albuquerque, he became active in the local Jewish community. He joined Congregation Albert and has been active in the Brotherhood (men’s service group). He has been producing the popular candidate debates at the synagogue for decades. He also served for years on the board of a local nonprofit school for kids with autism and other special needs. He met his current wife, Diana, a professional bookkeeper, in Albuquerque. They spend lots of time with their 12 grandchildren (11 are nearby) aged 1 to 32 years.

After the VA: Jeff then worked for the Bernalillo County Parks & Recreation Disabilities Program for eight more years. Then he retired again. “When I worked for Bernalillo County, it was nice to work with kids’ programs. I’d always wanted to teach. But here I was training the staff how to work with kids who have disabilities. Once again, I had to satisfy my yearning to teach with being content teaching the caregivers how to care for their clients,” he lamented.

Political Activism: “I’ve been a political activist for much of my life,” Jeff admitted. “Dad taught me how to speak up for things I believe in. I do that in several capacities. I think he’d be proud of the work I am doing.”

• “I’ve turned that into decades of success writing letters to the editor, having hundreds published in newspapers and magazines around the country. I’ve developed a course about how to get a letter published and I teach it from time to time. Finally, I’m teaching!” he exclaimed. “And I’m ready to teach it again, because we need to share our voices. I’ve also self-published a book of many of my letters and commentaries. The full title is ‘INSIDE POLITICS IN AMERICA: A VIEW FROM THE OUTSIDE. What’s wrong and how we can change it. An outsider’s critical look at the world around us.’ It started as a family project, but it grew bigger. I published 100 copies, and I only have two left.” (I wish I had one of them!) Watch for his letters in publications in New Mexico and nationwide. He usually gets them published!
• He volunteers as a member of NM Democratic candidate for Governor Deb Haaland’s letter writing group. He helps other volunteers to write their own letters to the editor. 
• He continues to run the wildly successful local, state, and US candidate debates at Congregation Albert. 

“It’s not hard to get me into a political argument. I’ve learned that it’s important to take the responsibility of citizenship seriously. If you’re not willing to do the work, then you shouldn’t complain,” he lectured all of us in the interview. “It is vitally important to run for office or help people run for office. We have a duty to support those who we think can help make our schools, city, county, etc. well-functioning and structured to benefit everybody – like my dad would do,” Jeff reflected.