(Photo)

Dies in Bomber Crash – Sgt. Chris Poulson

Blair Youth is Victim

Military Services Planned For Sunday

Son of Mrs. Edla Poulson Dies with Plane Mates as B-24 Crashes into Colorado Mountainside and Burns Late Friday

Another Washington county boy joined the growing list of heroic dead in World War II Friday night.

He was Staff Sgt. Chris Poulson, 26, son of Mrs. Edla Poulson of Blair, who with at least six other plane mates met a fiery death on a lonely mountainside near Colorado Springs, Colo., when their B-24 bomber struck a high peak at about 11:30 p. m. Friday.

All occupants of the plane, from the army air base at Pueblo, Colo., were dead when rescuers arrived on the scene. Further details were not immediately released. Sgt. Poulson was tail gunner aboard the plane.

Escorted by Cpl. Vayle H. Bunker of Dovrey, Minn., who is stationed at the Pueblo base, the body of Sgt. Poulson arrived in Blair at 7 p.m. last evening and was taken to the Bendorf Funeral Home. Sgt. Poulson is the first of 12 present and former countians thus far killed in the war to be brought home for interment.

Rites at 2 p.m. Sunday

A military funeral, it is announced, will be held at 2 p.m. at First Lutheran church in Blair, the Rev. H. C. Jorgensen officiating. Members of Stanley E. Hain post No. 154, American legion, will serve as pallbearers, and burial will be in Orum cemetery.

Sgt. Poulson’s wife is expected here today or tonight from her home in California, as is one of his brothers, Staff Sgt. Raymond Poulson, stationed at Coronado, Calif., with the marines.

Sgt. Poulson was born January 7, 1917, west of Blair, the oldest of the six children of Nels and Edla Poulson, and lived at Orum most of his life. He was baptized in the Danish Lutheran church at Orum. He attended Bisbee rural school and later enrolled in the Blair schools. For four years he was employed in Blair by Art’s Auto Parts, and three years ago went to California, where he was living when he joined the service last November.

He and Miss Lola Wilson of Hollydale, Calif., were married September 21, 1942.

The young man’s mother and his young brother, Niels, had returned to Blair only Tuesday of last week after visiting him at Pueblo. Sgt. Poulson had visited Blair in July, and a few days later flew over his mother’s home on Waterworks hill south of Blair.

Was Ordered Overseas

Only recently Sgt. Poulson, after receiving his new rank as staff sergeant, had been ordered to overseas duty, but the tragic crash ended the careers of the men before they could leave.

Sgt. Poulson is survived by his wife, Lola; his mother, Mrs. Edla Poulson of Blair; a sister, Miss Lucille Poulson, deputy county clerk here; and four brothers, Staff Sgt. Raymond Poulson of Coronado, Calif., Seaman First Class Russell Poulson, at sea with the navy; and Donald and Niels Poulson, both at home. Sgt. Poulson’s father, Nels, died in April, 1928.

#2-2 Sept., 1943 - The Enterprise

CHRIS POULSON KILLED WHEN PLANE CRASHED

Army Plane Crashed Into Mountainside. All Crew Killed

WAS WELL KNOWN TO BLAIR PEOPLE

The sad news reached Blair Monday that Christian L. Poulson, a trainee in the army air force, had been killed in a plane crash near Pueblo, Colorado, his army training base.

He and the crew of at least seven men had made a trip of inspection and were on their return to their base when the plane crashed into a mountainside. The plane burst into flames, and the entire crew met their death. The accident occurred on last Friday, August 27th.

He had already been ordered overseas, and had he lived would have soon been on his way to the field of conflict.

Christian L. Poulson was born in this county near Orum January 7th, 1917, and attended the Bisbee School. The father, Niels Poulson, died in 1928, and later the family moved to Blair where Christian attended the Blair schools.

In April, 1940 he went to California where he worked as a mechanic, and on September 21, 1942 he was married to Lola Wilson of Hollydale, California. In November of the same year he joined the air force.

Besides the wife, he leaves his mother, Mrs. Edla Poulson; one sister, Lucille Poulson, deputy county clerk; a brother, Raymond, in the Marines and stationed in California; another brother, Russell in the Navy and Donald and Niels at home.

The body arrived in Blair on Wednesday evening, September 1st accompanied by Cpl. Vayle H. Bunker of the same company as the deceased. The funeral will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. with Rev. H. C. Jorgensen officiating, and interment will be made in the Orum cemetery.

The sympathy of the community goes out to the bereaved relatives.

Note: Name Chris L Poulson. Buried in Lincoln Lutheran Cemetery, Row D No. 3 New Addition at Orum; born 7 Jan 1917; died 27 Aug 1943.

Find a Grave # 61057083.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~