While still married to Ruth Cullen, his wife of 16 years, Paul T. Cullen traveled to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in 1947 to marry Reva Joy Hurwitz. Cullen listed his marital status as "divorciado," which was a lie and an unlawful action. By marrying Reva without having divorced Ruth, Cullen was committing bigamy, a crime punishable under American civil as well as military law. Cullen later doubled down by marrying Reva in a civil ceremony in Baltimore -- again, without having divorced Ruth. The details of Cullen's bigamy did not become fully public until after the Air Force declared him dead. His two wives filed for survivor benefits and wound up fighting it out in court.
The New York Daily News published the most detailed story of Paul Cuyllen's betrayal and the stories of the two wives who were told they would soon be joining him in the United Kingdom as he assumed his new role as the first commander of an overseas Strategic Air Command base. Aside from being a blatant violation of military law, punishable by court-martial and imprisonment, Cullen's bigamy posed a huge security breach, given his access to top secret details of American plans to deploy atomic forces to Europe.
While still married to Ruth Cullen, his wife of 16 years, Paul T. Cullen traveled to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in 1947 to marry Reva Joy Hurwitz. Cullen listed his marital status as "divorciado," which was a lie and an unlawful action. By marrying Reva without having divorced Ruth, Cullen was committing bigamy, a crime punishable under American civil as well as military law. Cullen later doubled down by marrying Reva in a civil ceremony in Baltimore -- again, without having divorced Ruth. The details of Cullen's bigamy did not become fully public until after the Air Force declared him dead. His two wives filed for survivor benefits and wound up fighting it out in court.
The New York Daily News published the most detailed story of Paul Cuyllen's betrayal and the stories of the two wives who were told they would soon be joining him in the United Kingdom as he assumed his new role as the first commander of an overseas Strategic Air Command base. Aside from being a blatant violation of military law, punishable by court-martial and imprisonment, Cullen's bigamy posed a huge security breach, given his access to top secret details of American plans to deploy atomic forces to Europe.