THE WALL OF FACES

Though I never met you, I always think of how life would be with you. Im so honored to have a hero as my uncle. Rest in peace Uncle Tom.I know your happy because you have your Mom and Dad with you. Miss all Three of you. Love you!!
Your Niece Chelsea Garcia?

Dear PFC Thomas William Cranford, sir

As an American, I would like to thank you for your service and for your sacrifice made on behalf of our wonderful country. The youth of today could gain much by learning of heroes such as yourself, men and women whose courage and heart can never be questioned.

May God allow you to read this, and may He allow me to someday shake your hand when I get to Heaven to personally thank you. May he also allow my father to find you and shake your hand now to say thank you; for America, and for those who love you.

With respect, Sir

Curt Carter

I remember Tom as one of those happy people who always seemed to have a smile for everyone. We shared several classes during our time at EHS and we were guilty of passing notes back and forth in all of them. We had a good time back then......50 years ago now. Seems just like yesterday though. It was a shock to hear that he paid the ultimate price while serving our country so far away. It didn't seem real for me until I visited the traveling Memorial Wall a few years ago while it was in Redding. When I saw and touched his name engraved in granite ......... that's when it hit me. I felt such sadness for all the years he didn't have and the happiness he would have spread to those he knew and loved. Tom, you haven't been forgotten here, but at least you are with a whole bunch of Heros just like yourself. God Bless you.

Rest in Peace

To Thomas Cranford, our 2nd-47th Brother: We who served so proudly with you want to let you know that we have established a Memorial Scholarship to honor your memory and the ultimate sacrifice that you and the other 195 brave soldiers of the 2nd-47th Mechanized Infantry made while serving our country in Vietnam in 1966-1970. Our wish is that this Memorial Scholarship conveys the highest tribute possible to each of you because it comes from the hearts of the soldiers who served with you. It represents the everlasting and inexpressible gratitude we feel for your sacrifice. We got to live the lives that you were deprived of, and this scholarship is one small way of expressing our sorrow for your loss and our appreciation for the magnitude of what you gave. Many of you brave young soldiers sacrificed your own lives to save one of us, and we have carried heartfelt memories of you for nearly four decades. This perpetual Memorial Scholarship is our way of being sure that the memories of love, honor, and respect we feel for you, our Panther Brothers lost in combat, will live on forever. [If you are a 2nd-47th veteran, or a friend or family member of one of our fallen Brothers, and would like more information about how to support or apply for our Memorial Scholarship, information is available at www.247scholarship.org ]