Dr. Paul Carlson

Here on this page is a short version of the story of Dr. Paul Carlson. It was written by a boy named Ben Thornbloom, who lives in Florida and it was a sixth-grade project. He wrote this in the style of a newspaper article published at the time Dr. Paul died.

If you would like to read more about Paul Carlson, we also have a longer story about his work in Congo and how he died. Ben wrote this longer one too, this time writing as if he were a 12-year-old boy in Congo at the time Dr. Carlson was there. It's a good story, and we're grateful to Ben for letting us share these two things with you.

Here is the newspaper article:

Simba Uprising Takes the Life of Missionary Doctor

By Ben Thornbloom

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC of CONGO - Dr. Paul Carlson was shot and killed on Tuesday in Stanleyville, Congo. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a war torn country in Central Africa. Dr. Carlson was a missionary doctor assigned to the Evangelical Covenant Church’s mission station in Wasolo, Congo. He had a wife and two kids that were also living in Wasolo. One of Dr. Carlson’s friends, an American engineer named Bob Thornbloom, said, and I quote, “Paul had a sense of humor.” The hospital at Wasolo didn’t have all of the tools that hospitals in the U.S. have, so Dr. Carlson had to use everything that he was given.

The Simbas moved against the central government because justice had broken down. The word “Simba” is Swahili for “lion.” When the Simbas began to take over all of the villages in Congo the other missionaries began to evacuate. Dr. Carlson and his family stayed in Wasolo even as the rest of the missionaries began to evacuate. When the Simbas captured Stanleyville, Dr. Carlson decided that they were getting too close. He made the plans for his family to leave.

After Dr. Carlson made sure that his wife and their children were safe, he went back to Wasolo. Dr. Carlson needed to stay at Wasolo to be with his sick patients. He had made a plan for his escape, but when the Simbas finally came to Wasolo they blocked his escape route. They came to the hospital and captured him. The Simbas took Dr. Carlson to their leader Christophe Gbeney in Stanleyville. He was put in with other American prisoners.

On Tuesday the Belgians sent in paratroopers to rescue all of the prisoners that were being held in Stanleyville. The Simbas took the prisoners out into that street and began to shoot them. When they stopped to reload, the prisoners ran. Dr. Carlson was running towards a house to hide in when a rebel came from behind the house and shot him.

Dr. Carlson will be buried in Congo at the Karawa mission station, where other missionaries have been buried.

(Something interesting: Ben himself has a relative who is buried in the cemetery at Karawa: a sister of his grandfather's. She died while the family lived there as missionaries.)

Click here to read the longer story.