Jon Paulson

1942 - 2016

Jon William Paulson

April 23, 1942 - October 9, 2016

Jon William Paulson passed away after a full, productive life on Sunday, October 9, 2016 at the San Francisco V.A. Hospice facility. He had been suffering for seven years with multiple myeloma which he contracted from constant exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. Jon was an infantry platoon commander in Vietnam in the second wave of Marines deployed 1965-1966. Regrettably, his incurable blood cancer treatment caused an inoperable glioblastoma brain tumor diagnosed in early August. He received the best of care at our outstanding V.A. Medical Center at Fort Miley with his superb team of medical doctors and nurses.
Jon was born at Swedish Hospital in Seattle, WA. His parents, Janie and Sig Paulson, were Unity ministers who spoke every Sunday at Carnegie Hall in New York City to hundreds people of a variety of faiths. Those ecumenical teachings were the lifelong basis for Jon's tolerance, open mind and total lack of bigotry and prejudice. He attended Tenafly, NJ, High School and excelled at a variety of sports, was captain of the football team, class president, voted most popular, and even made good grades. He was recruited to play football by Columbia, Penn, Dartmouth, Colgate, Rutgers, U. of Virginia and Duke. He chose Rutgers, eighth oldest college in America in 1776, and got a full academic-athletic scholarship at a time Rutgers had only 3,600 men (no women). Jon was on the Rutgers Undefeated Football Team of 1961, and received his degree in History/Philosophy in 1964; he was also in Cap & Scull Honorary Society and President of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.
In 1962 he joined the U.S. Marine Corps to avoid a second year of required ROTC. After boot camp at Parris Island, SC, his Drill Instructor talked him into applying for Officers' Candidate School (TBS-65) in Quantico, VA. In addition to his rigorous training as a combat platoon commander, he played linebacker for the Marines' prominent football team that included five first-team All-Americans (sadly, four of the five were killed in Vietnam 1967-69).
First Lt. Paulson was sent to Vietnam in 1965 with I Corps to lead his 43-man enlisted Marines and one Navy Corpsman. He began in Da Nang marching off to guard this vital air base (his battalion was 3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment 3rd Marine Division). In An Hoa ("Arizona Territory"), he first began losing his young Marines and constantly being exposed to Agent Orange. He earned three Purple Hearts but declined a Silver Star. He always wore his dog tags to remind him of his Marines and two Navy Corpsmen who were killed. He rarely talked about Vietnam after his return but it was always on his mind. Years later, he decided to write down his experiences in Vietnam as a promise to his buddy who also died of war-related injuries. He was preceded in death by his sister, Pamela, and brother Terry who also died of Agent Orange-related cancer as an Air Force pilot in Vietnam. Jon has donated his body to UCSF's Willed Body Program for medical research.
Three weeks after his return Stateside in 1966, Capt. Paulson met his soul mate and wife of 49-1/2 years, Dianne Chandler, of La Jolla, CA. They were married in 1967 and travelled the world and had friends and extended family around the globe. Although Jon was very social, he was a deep thinker and was a voracious reader of history and non-fiction and loved to talk about ideas, history and world events. He was an excellent listener. Jon graduated from Harvard Business School class of 1973. He was on the faculty there until he realized he was not into academia. He started his own company, Boston Capital Resources, Inc. in 1973 and focused on real estate finance and investment. He was a former Chairman of the Board of Swords to Plowshares, a veteran's advocacy organization to help homeless and disabled veterans, based in San Francisco. He was also Chairman of the Board of the Marines' Memorial Association.
There will be a Celebration of Life for Jon at the Marines' Memorial Club to be announced at a later date. If you wish to make a donation in his honor, Jon requested a contribution to the following non-profit organizations: Swords to Plowshares, 1060 Howard St., San Francisco, CA 94103; or the Marines' Memorial Association, 609 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA 94102; or the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, Box 555193, Camp Pendleton, CA 92055; or to a worthy charity of your choice.