Thomas W. Sima

Thomas Sima enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on February 9, 1953, and entered the Aviation Cadet Program on November 2, 1953. Sima was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and awarded his pilot wings at Williams AFB, Arizona, on January 18, 1955, and then completed F-86 Sabre Combat Crew Training. His first assignment was with the 36th Fighter Bomber Squadron at Itazuke AB, Japan, from October 1955 to November 1957, followed by service as an F-100 Super Sabre pilot with the 333rd Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, from December 1957 to September 1959. Captain Sima served on the staff of the 4th TFW from September 1959 to April 1962, and then served as Air Operations Officer with Detachment 1, 13th Air Force, at Taipei, Taiwan, from April 1962 to June 1963. His next assignment was as an F-105 Thunderchief pilot with the 36th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Itazuke and Yokota AB, Japan, from July 1963 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam while deployed to Southeast Asia on October 15, 1965. Captain Sima was immediately captured and taken as a Prisoner of War.