AUSTIN — Today, Texas Land Commissioner and Veterans Land Board (VLB) Chairwoman Dawn Buckingham, M.D., is proud to introduce the next installment of the series highlighting the VLB's Voices of Veterans oral history program. This week, we highlight the service Paula Bushon, who served in the U.S. Army as an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) Specialist.
Bushon was born in San Benito, Texas, on February 2, 1944. Her father was a pilot who died before she was born. She was raised by her mother and stepfather who had two other children. She attended high school in Arlington, Texas, and after her graduation, got married and had four children before the age of 25.
After high school graduation, Bushon began working at a commissary in Fort Worth, Texas, at Carswell Air Force Base. She discussed how she got into the military, saying, “My coworker suggested that I join the Texas Army National Guard. After training, I would go once a month and get paid for four days of service. I signed up, and on Dec 28, 1973, I flew out to McClellan air base in Alabama.”
Bushon was sent to Fort Lee, Virginia, to learn a trade and signed up for supply school. She explained how she excelled quickly, saying, “It was self-paced, and I finished early so I volunteered for another class. That one was Automotive Repair Parts Specialist, and I graduated with that one too.”
After graduation Bushon returned to Texas. She mentioned that she “attended one meeting at the National Guard, but I missed the discipline, structure, and the family atmosphere of the Army.” Bushon went on to train for a different field and signed up for the regular Army in July 1974. She was told the Army needed women in Explosive Ordinance Disposal and enrolled in the Ammunition Handling and Storage Specialist class at Redstone Arsenal.
“After I finished my class, they sent me back to Fort Sill. I was also put in an Ammunition Handling Company instead of EOD. My first big, exciting experience was when they did the last firepower demonstration with actual ammunition. I helped put 96 rockets on a cobra helicopter and one of the pilots let me ride along. It was the biggest thrill.”
Bushon was transferred to the Executive Officers Office. Her roommate was the secretary for the EOD and helped initiate her transfer into the correct department. She discussed her first mission to dispose of old ammunition at a burn pit and said, “there was one pin flare that started a 600-acre range fire. I fought that fire from early morning until late that night.”
Bushon went to EOD School in January and would become the first woman in the Army to graduate from there in December, returning to Fort Sill as an EOD Specialist.
“They sent me to Redstone Arsenal again in Alabama during the summer and this time I went to the chemical biological, and radiological warfare school. After that I was transferred to Indian Head, Maryland, where the EOD school was," she explained. "One of our official duties was to go with Secret Service as a support team to check where the Presidential candidates were going to speak or stay and make sure there were no explosives. I traveled all over the United States, and I went to the Republican National Convention. I went to Kansas and California. At that point it was exciting.”
During this time, Bushon worked closely with Lloyd Benson, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Regan while traveling as a part of their Secret Service teams.
She continued her work as an EOD Specialist in Oklahoma. Bushon helped school children understand the dangers of “unexploded ammunition,” saying that because they lived so close to Fort Sill, “children would come on the base and find unexploded ammunition.” She also traveled across the U.S. to collect misplaced ammunition and dispose of it properly at Fort Sill.
Bushon got out of the Army in 1976 and has been involved with the American Legion and is a lifetime member of the Disabled American Veteran (DAV). She was awarded the Vietnam National Service Medal for her time in the Army, and when asked about her experience she said “It’s an opportunity to become more self-sufficient and assertive. You can always be better than you think, and you can always be braver than you ever knew.”
To listen to Sergeant Paula Bushon tell her story, click the button below:
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Veterans can email VoicesofVeterans@glo.texas.gov to tell their stories. Please note that the Veteran must be a resident of Texas at the time of their interview.
Voices of Veterans is a state agency's first Veteran oral history program. It records the stories of Texas Veterans through their time in service and after returning home from combat.
The VLB records interviews with Veterans over the phone or in person. Their interviews are then permanently archived in the Office of Veterans Records at the GLO, where they join the historical documents of other Texas heroes such as Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William Barret Travis.
Veterans' interviews are also available to researchers, historians, genealogists, and the public. These precious records inspire future generations and remind us of our Veterans' sacrifices.
To listen to the over 500 archived stories of Veterans documented through the GLO's Voices of Veterans oral history program, click the button below: