Dick Girvin, Tommie Allen, and Jimmie H. Butler
On 4 August 1964, 38 new pilots graduated in Class 65-A
at Enid AFB, Oklahoma. Tommie
Allen holds his trophies for being the class’s top graduate and the top in
flying. Tommie had come to Vance with his wife, Glenda, and two (I believe)
small children from Oklahoma State University on 12 July 1963 as one of 45
members of Class 65-A. As the top graduate, Tommie got his choice of follow-on
assignments—an F-105 Thunderchief. The
subject of Vietnam hardly was in anyone’s vocabulary at that time.
When I saw his name listed in the Air Force Times as
missing in action in the summer of 1967, I assumed he’d gone down in an
F-105. Later I learned that
he’d been shot down in an F-4.
This is the information listed on The Virtual Wall:
http://www.thevirtualwall.org
THOMAS RAY ALLEN was
born on January 17, 1941 and joined the Armed Forces while in WOODWARD, OK.
He served as a 1115F in the Air Force, and attained the rank of MAJ/O4.
On July 31, 1967, at the age of 26, THOMAS RAY ALLEN perished in the service
of our country in North Vietnam.
Now you can put another
face with one of the more than 58,000 names on The Wall.
In late January 1967, I
arrived at Binh Thuy Air Base, South Vietnam for my in-country checkout.
I hadn’t flown an O-1 Bird Dog since before departing FAC training at
Hurlburt AFB, FL on Christmas morning, 1966, so the school was to get us back
in the cockpit for a little more training.
One of the instructors I met at FAC School was Dick Girvin.
Dick had earned the trophy for being tops in academics in Class 65-A. I assume he’d already finished part of a FAC tour before
transferring to the FAC School. Dick
told me the only award he hoped to earn over the next few months was the
Longevity Service Award, which we received for each four-year interval of
service. Dick was due to complete
his forth year on the day after he was due to complete his tour in South
Vietnam.
