Born
in Rusk, Texas, December 24, 1914. He had three brothers
and a sister. He worked on the east Texas farm while attending
high school. Because of the depression, he was compelled
to quit school in the middle of his junior year. He worked
at odd jobs (10 cents an hour), served some time in FDR's
Civilian Conversation Corps and then developed a laundry
and dry cleaning business, which became successful.
After
leaving the C.C.C., he attended a business school in Houston,
and then went to work for Humble Oil Co. (Exxon).
With
war clouds gathering in Europe, he left Humble Oil and
to join the Army. For the first nine months, he served
in the infantry. After Pearl Harbor, he entered Aviation
Cadet training at Kelley Field. His first assignment was
gunnery school at Harlingen, Texas. He served as a gunnery
instructor for 18-months before becoming a B-24 instructor
pilot in 1942.
In
1944, he was assigned to the B-29 (VH) bomber-training
program at SHAAF, Salina, Kansas. By this time he had
flown nearly every type of aircraft the Army (and Navy)
had in their arsenals, including the old Owl-52.
P-44
developed an enviable record in bombing accuracy. In a
raid on the Otake Oil Refinery, it lead a formation that
scored direct hits. Strike photos revealed 85% destruction
of the target. After the war, General
George Mundy, former 39th Group CO, visited Otake
and confirmed that the refineries, indeed, had been totally
destroyed.
During
World War II as a Captain, he was awarded three DFC's
(Distinguished
Flying Cross), four Air
Medals and a multitude of other decorations.
On
June 23, he married Margaret Louis Reuter in San Antonio.
There first child, Debra Sue, was born July 18, 1952.
A son, Carroll H. Payne II, came along on December 18,
1954. A second daughter, Naomi was born in England on
January 27, 1958.
Carroll
and Margaret Payne were divorced in 1973.
In
April 1977, he married Freda, brought two children from
a previous marriage into the family.
Payne
had remained in the Air Force after the war spending two
years in the Air Defense Command, followed by a short
tour in Panama, then participation in the Berlin Airlift.
Afterwards, he was involved in the B-36 Operational Test
Program. In the early fifties, there were assignments
to the jet fighters and bombers in England, where he served
on the staff of Third Air Force Headquarters.
He
retired from the service in 1958 with the rank of Lt Colonel.
In
that same year, Payne founded United Services Planning
Association (USPA) and the Independent Research Agency
(IRA). This was a financial management corporation whose
aim was to provide the military professional an opportunity
to achieve financial independence.
Twenty-six
years later, the company with 845 representatives and
employees was operating in 45 states, as well as Hawaii,
Guam, England and Germany. By the time of his death in
1984, USPA/IRA had garnered 85% of the military business
in this specific area of the financial market. The USPA
Educational Foundation has awarded scholarships to children
of military families well in excess of $500,000.
Freda
was with Carroll when he was stricken with a fatal heart
attack near Detroit on June 30, 1984.
A
book by Warner F. "Tex" Rankin, Jr., Preface, "The History
of USPA and IRA: The First 30 Years" was published in
1989 by UPSA and IRA. Inc. Fort Worth, Texas. It reveals
the "rags to riches" story of this remarkable man.
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