He served ten months over in Vietnam in the infantry as a radio operator. With only 10 days left in the field before heading off to some much needed RNR to Sydney, Australia and then on to America, home. Tom had the ill fortune of being injured by a 'booby trap' and losing his right leg from mid thigh down.

Though there are many aspects of the Vietnam War that Tom still contemplates to this very day, he stated, "I am strongly in favor of going over and helping out the people of Vietnam. I would very much like to see full diplomatic relations. I would like to see whatever we can do to help these people." He would like to go back to Vietnam someday he said. In a split second he would go with no hesitation.

When asked about a particular story that stood out in his mind he smiles and replied, "I have a Christmas story that I can honestly say was the first time and probably the only time in my life that I found out what the true meaning of Christmas was really about. Without Vietnam I'm not sure I would still understand the meaning."

In Vietnam no one knew what day it was, you kept a calendar of only how many days you had left until you were out. It was somewhere around December 22, we thought, and Tom's platoon got a call, after only being out in the field for two or three days, to come back into base camp, "Which took me totally by surprise," Tom noted, you never were called back to camp that soon and especially at two in the afternoon.

Not knowing that it was Christmas Eve and that a cease-fire was in effect, Tom asked someone what day it was, no one knew for sure.

"We were aware of the fact that it was the Christmas season but there were no decorations, no shopping and no one from the Salvation Army on the corner ringing their bells.

Because they were in infantry they didn't have a chance to purchase gifts to exchange. A member of Tom's platoon handed an-other man his care package from home he had received which was marked 'Do Not Open Until Christmas.' and said "Merry Christmas" and before you knew it, they all exchanged their unopened care packages from home.

"We were like family, each other is all we had," Tom stated.

They also did something that Christmas Eve night that was unheard of in Vietnam and that was to build a campfire. With a smirk on his face Tom stated "It was a very small fire, but it was a fire."

They spent the evening reminiscing about Christmas from years past at home, reading the Christmas story out of the Bible and singing Christmas Carols.

"When you start singing a Christmas Carol like Silent Night, and there is no such thing as a Silent Night during wartime, and then when you sing the words Peace On Earth Good Will To Men, and you can hear helicopters and gun shots off in the distance, that is a very empty feeling. There were more tears shed that night than you can imagine." Tom stated.

After Tom was wounded he was flown home to California from Japan on a stretcher. When the plane was ready to land in the wee hours of the morning there were no welcome banners, nobody to greet them, and no cheers. The only welcome was the pilot on the radio saying, "On behalf of the California Air National Guard we wanted to thank you for your sacrifices," and as they touched the ground the pilot said, "Welcome home."