Thomas S. "Tom" Pyle, II

Tom Pyle enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on April 22, 1954, and was assigned to the 1st AMTRAKS, 3rd Marine Division and School Demonstration Troops at Quantico, Virginia. Corporal Pyle was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps on April 21, 1957, and continued in the Marine Corps Reserve until he entered the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Air Force for Navigator training on April 11, 1959. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and awarded his Navigator Wings at Harlingen AFB, Texas, on June 8, 1960, and he then attended Electronic Warfare Officer training at Keesler AFB, Mississippi, from June 1960 to April 1961. Lieutenant Pyle next attended B-52 Stratofortress Combat Crew Training at Castle AFB, California, and at Walker AFB, New Mexico, from May to August 1961, followed by service as a B-52 Electronic Warfare Officer with the 98th Bomb Squadron (later redesignated the 6th Bomb Squadron) at Clinton Sherman AFB, Oklahoma, from September 1961 to December 1965. Captain Pyle served as Assistant Chief of the Penetrations Branch with the 70th Bomb Wing at Clinton Sherman AFB from January to May 1966, and he then attended F-105F Thunderchief Wild Weasel Electronic Warfare Officer training from May to July 1966. His next assignment was as an F-105F Electronic Warfare Officer with the 354th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Takhli Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, from July 1966 until he was forced to eject from his stricken aircraft over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on August 7, 1966.