ROBERT J THOMAS
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HONORED ON PANEL 1W, LINE 95 OF THE WALL

ROBERT JAMES THOMAS

WALL NAME

ROBERT J THOMAS

PANEL / LINE

1W/95

DATE OF BIRTH

12/19/1948

CASUALTY PROVINCE

NZ

DATE OF CASUALTY

12/18/1972

HOME OF RECORD

MIAMI

COUNTY OF RECORD

Miami-Dade County

STATE

FL

BRANCH OF SERVICE

AIR FORCE

RANK

CAPT

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Contact Details

REMEMBRANCES

LEFT FOR ROBERT JAMES THOMAS
POSTED ON 12.15.2020
POSTED BY: ANON

Never forgotten

CAPT Robert James Thomas is buried at Evergreen Memorial Park in Allapattah, FL.

His remains were repatriated August 27, 1978. He was identified September 11, 1978.

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH
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POSTED ON 10.16.2019
POSTED BY: Frank J. Longo

BRACELET

Just to let you know that I have been keeping your Bracelet in my possession for approximately 50 years. May your family and friends know that you are special!
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POSTED ON 6.1.2019
POSTED BY: Robert Doty

Fond Memories

Bob and I were assigned to the same training crew as B-52 copilots at Castle AFB. Many memories for the time we flew together. Later we were both assigned to Andersen AFB, Guam. We drank a beer at the club the night before his mission. It was the last time I saw him. Was hard to lose a friend. Rest in peace dear friend.

Robert Doty, Ltcol, USAF Retired
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POSTED ON 7.19.2015

Final Mission of 1LT Robert J. Thomas

Frustrated by problems in negotiating a peace settlement, and pressured by a Congress and public wanting an immediate end to American involvement in Vietnam, President Nixon ordered the most concentrated air offensive of the war - known as Linebacker II - in December 1972. During the offensive, sometimes called the "Christmas bombings," 40,000 tons of bombs were dropped, primarily over the area between Hanoi and Haiphong. White House Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler said that the bombing would end only when all U.S. POWs were released and an internationally recognized cease-fire was in force. On the first day of Linebacker II, December 18, 129 B52s arrived over Hanoi in three waves, four to five hours apart. They attacked the airfields at Hoa Lac, Kep and Phuc Yen, the Kinh No complex and the Yen Vien railyards. The aircraft flew in tight cells of three aircraft to maximize the mutual support benefits of their ECM equipment and flew straight and level to stabilize the bombing computers and ensure that all bombs fell on the military targets and not in civilian areas. The pilots of the early missions reported that "wall-to-wall SAMS" surrounded Hanoi as they neared its outskirts. The first night of bombing, December 18 and 19, two B-52s were shot down by SAMs. Onboard the first aircraft shot down on December 18 was its pilot, LTCOL Donald L. Rissi and crewmen MAJ Richard E. Johnson, CAPT Richard T. Simpson, CAPT Robert G. Certain, 1LT Robert J. Thomas and SGT Walter L. Ferguson. Of this crew, Certain, Simpson and Johnson were captured and shown the bodies of the other crew members. Six years later on August 23, 1978, the bodies of Rissi, Thomas and Ferguson were returned to U.S. control by the Vietnamese. Certain, Simpson and Johnson were held prisoner in Hanoi until March 29, 1973, when they were released in Operation Homecoming. CAPT Hal K. Wilson was in the lead aircraft of a B-52 cell from Utapao. Also on board his aircraft were crew men MAJ Fernando Alexander, CAPT Charles A. Brown Jr., CAPT Henry C. Barrows, CAPT Richard W. Cooper Jr. (the navigator), and SGT Charlie S. Poole (the tail gunner). Wilson's aircraft was hit by a SAM near his target area and crashed in the early morning hours of December 19, sustaining damage to the fuselage. In the ensuing fire, there was no time for orderly bailout, but as later examination of radio tapes indicated, all six crewmen deployed their parachutes and evidently safely ejected. The aircraft damage report indicated that all six men were prisoner. Radio Hanoi announced in news broadcasts between 19 and 22 December that the six crewmen had been captured. When the war ended, however, only four of the crew returned from Hanoi prisons. Hanoi remained silent about the fate of Charlie Poole and Richard Cooper. On March 5, 1996 remains were returned that were positively identified on August 12, 2003. These remains were prepared for a group burial. That internment service took place at Arlington National Cemetery on December 19, 2003. [Taken from pownetwork.org]
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POSTED ON 5.13.2015
POSTED BY: Rondey Krieg

I will always love you.

I met Bob and his wife at Castle AFB n 1971. I was barely 18 and was assigned as his gunner on the training. Being so young and inexperienced Bob supported me at every turn and I looked up to him as only a little brother could. He shared his heart and his family that I might be a better person I love you and always will. I have never met a kinder man and know I never will. Your not forgotten you are in our thoughts and our dreams everyday. I hope I have become half the man you were. Sorry I haven't written sooner but I do want Bob and his family to know that I haven't stopped thinking of them and appreciating them for what they did for me. I completely lost it and went numb when Bob didn't return. GOD BLESS YOU !!!
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