CLEARFIELD — Lt. Col. Paul Bloomquist spent much of his distinguished military career helping to save the lives of his fellow soldiers.
The Orem native was a medical evacuation helicopter pilot who served in Korea and Vietnam, flying more 450 missions in the '50s and '60s. During his exemplary service, Bloomquist was awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses, 37 Air Medals and three Purple Hearts.
Fittingly, Bloomquist, who was killed in May 1972 during a non-combat-related bomb attack at a military installation in Germany, became just the 24th person and the first U.S. Army inductee ever into the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame.
"He was a true hero," Maj. Pat Gilmore, administrator of the Utah Aviation Hall of Fame, told the Deseret News. "He was not in the business of self-aggrandizement. He was there to do a job … to save other people's lives."
Bloomquist was honored during a Memorial Day ceremony at the Hill Aerospace Museum.
Gilmore noted that Bloomquist was once featured in a July 1965 issue of Time magazine in which, when asked why he refused to take leave during the first 15 months in Vietnam, he was quoted as saying, "Because I like the excitement. And because I think that my crew and I can do this job better than anyone else. It's the job that counts above all, and it's a job somebody has to do."
That attitude is what made Bloomquist such a superior soldier, Gilmore said.
"He was self-sacrificing, and the people who are in the military today doing the same job that he was doing … are pretty much the same as him," Gilmore said. "They are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, a sense of patriotism, not necessarily for self-promotion."
Bloomquist's brother, Wayne, who accepted the award on behalf of his family, said he was grateful that his sibling's military service was being recognized in such meaningful way.
"It's awesome," Wayne Bloomquist said with tears in his eyes. "I didn't expect this ever to happen."
While he said if Lt. Col. Bloomquist were alive today, he probably would have been uncomfortable with such a high-profile acknowledgement, Wayne Bloomquist added that his brother also would have been proud to know his service was so well-regarded by his peers in the military community.
Among those on hand to commemorate Bloomquist's distinguished service was Maj. Gen. Brian Tarbet, commander of the Utah National Guard. Tarbet said the courageous contributions of the military men and women in the medevac community are too often underappreciated.
"You look back on all of these wars (and see) the lives they've saved — at considerable risk to themselves," he told the Deseret News. "It's just an extraordinary story of devotion … great bravery and great dedication."
Tarbet added that while the service of soldiers such as Bloomquist is certainly worthy of recognition, in this day and age, so is the sacrifice of the families they leave behind.
"For some families in this state today, it's the equivalent of World War II," he said. "Their loved ones are overseas in harm's way. The least we can do is keep them in our thoughts and prayers."
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