Last year (2009) the replica of the Viet Nam Memorial was exhibited in St. George, Utah. I looked up Tommy's name on the wall. They gave me a printout of his vitals which explained he died in a helicopter crash. I rubbed my hand over his name and was deeply saddened that his life was cut so short. He and his brother used to ride around Lake Merritt with me and my sisters on our bikes. One time, Bobby Steimer accidentally rode right into the lake! In the sixth grade, Tommy had a birthday party at his house and we all played postman and spin the bottle. Such innocent times!
per Pete Michael...Tommy passed away in 1967 and pete wrote the following:
At sea aboard the Kitty Hawk, after the two second woosh off the catapult, Phantoms had to fly nose high. This required deft flying on instruments just over the water and many F4s were lost during the transition. Tom's squadron had recently lost a plane and two senior aircrew during a cat shot.
Tom's plane had a full load of bombs, probably more than 11,000 pounds, which changed the center of gravity. That meant rotating from nearly flat to nose high at about 170 miles an hour, a precise and risky move at night. Their mission was to bomb North Vietnam, probably searching for trucks on the trail. If Tom had not gone down on that flight there was always the possibility of enduring six years as a prisoner of war. That's a horrible image. He crashed on Yankee Station a week before his birthday and a month before being ordered to the Atlantic Fleet.
I'll always remember Tom as a good friend. We shared home-room, since were in the same part of the alphabet. He was always such an easy going guy, always so cheerful.
I also learned of his demise in Vietnam, but I heard he was in the back seat of an F4 that got hit by a SAM over the Gulf of Tonkin.
When Sharon and I were in DC some many years ago, we went to the Vietnam Memorial and found his name. We were struck silent by the tragedy that came to so many and the seriousness of the memorial. I think I can still see his name engraved in that black granite.
A late entry but I thought I would add a little. I have visited "The Wall" many times, it contains many friends from my Navy service and close association with the USNC. Tom is among them. We are fortunate as a class of the age when Vietnam service was in our age group, that only Tom made the ultimate sacrafice. I served in 9 campgenes in, over and around Vietnam and rescued several at sea, each trip I make to the wall, I look at Tom's name engraved there. His immage appears in my mind, young and vibrant, and I am sad and wondering if I could have made a differance had I been flying right there, right then.
Bev Hinch (Luttrell)
Last year (2009) the replica of the Viet Nam Memorial was exhibited in St. George, Utah. I looked up Tommy's name on the wall. They gave me a printout of his vitals which explained he died in a helicopter crash. I rubbed my hand over his name and was deeply saddened that his life was cut so short. He and his brother used to ride around Lake Merritt with me and my sisters on our bikes. One time, Bobby Steimer accidentally rode right into the lake! In the sixth grade, Tommy had a birthday party at his house and we all played postman and spin the bottle. Such innocent times!
per Pete Michael...Tommy passed away in 1967 and pete wrote the following:
James A. (Jim) Stehr
I'll always remember Tom as a good friend. We shared home-room, since were in the same part of the alphabet. He was always such an easy going guy, always so cheerful.
I also learned of his demise in Vietnam, but I heard he was in the back seat of an F4 that got hit by a SAM over the Gulf of Tonkin.
When Sharon and I were in DC some many years ago, we went to the Vietnam Memorial and found his name. We were struck silent by the tragedy that came to so many and the seriousness of the memorial. I think I can still see his name engraved in that black granite.
God be with you always, Tom.
Hughes Crumpler
A late entry but I thought I would add a little. I have visited "The Wall" many times, it contains many friends from my Navy service and close association with the USNC. Tom is among them. We are fortunate as a class of the age when Vietnam service was in our age group, that only Tom made the ultimate sacrafice. I served in 9 campgenes in, over and around Vietnam and rescued several at sea, each trip I make to the wall, I look at Tom's name engraved there. His immage appears in my mind, young and vibrant, and I am sad and wondering if I could have made a differance had I been flying right there, right then.