Thomas J. Klomann

Tom Klomann was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force through the Air Force ROTC program at the Illinois Institute of Technology on June 6, 1968, and went on active duty beginning September 22, 1968. Lieutenant Klomann next attended Undergraduate Pilot Training at Laughlin AFB, Texas, and then attended Undergraduate Navigator Training at Mather AFB, California, earning his navigator wings in September 1969. After completing Navigator-Bombardier training and B-52 Stratofortress Combat Crew Training, Lieutenant Klomann served as a B-52 navigator-bombardier with the 348th Bomb Squadron at Westover AFB, Massachusetts, from May 1970 to until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam on December 20, 1972. After his parachute failed to deploy, Captain Klomann was seriously injured upon landing, but did survive and was taken prisoner immediately. Tom Klomann (navigator-bombardier) and Paul Granger (pilot) were the only known survivors from their six-man B-52 crew.