THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. As long as you are remembered you will remain in our hearts forever….

Dear LTJG Thomas Steimer, Thank you for your service as a Naval Flight Officer. Today is your 55th anniversary, sad, but your 80th birthday is in just days, even sadder. You are still MIA. Please come home. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. Yesterday was the 47th anniversary of the official end of the war and it's Mother's Day. Time passes quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage, guidance and faithfulness, especially now. Be at peace.

On the remembrance of your 79th birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

POW-MIA...Never Forget

Semper Fortis

In the spring of 1967, the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) was in position off the coast of Vietnam conducting flight operations in support of combat operations in the war zone. At 5:29 PM on May 8, 1967, a McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II (#152997) from Fighter Squadron 114 (VF-114), call sign "Linfield 212" and carrying two crew members, catapulted from the deck of the Kitty Hawk over the South China Sea for a strike mission. During the launch, the aircraft suffered an engine malfunction and both crew members ejected. Two good chutes were observed, and the Navy airmen landed in the sea off the carrier's port side. As the ship steamed past the two men, the pilot, LTJG L. M. Tuft, appeared secure in the water; however, the co-pilot, LTJG Thomas J. Steimer, was face-down in the water. By the time the aircraft guard helicopter arrived from its position on Kitty Hawk's starboard side, Steimer had disappeared beneath the surface and was not seen again. Tuft was picked up without difficulty. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, virtualwall.org, and pownetwork.org]

Without people like you our great nation would not exist. Rest in peace LTJG. Steimer, I salute your brave soul.