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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:

Tom Mass, my superb wingman, saved my life, February 2, 1944. After my Douglas Dauntless engine lost all its oil and seized, I crashed in heavy seas 115 miles off Florida. Plane sank. Raft inflator missing. Sharks. No hope of rescue. Tom stayed over me, then flew to a small Navy ship and by hand signals got them to follow him and fish me out. Tom then flew back to Cecil Field, Jacksonville, where he ran out of fuel just after landing.

Tom joined Fighting Six (Butch O'Hare's outfit) aboard Hancock (CV-19) as a replacement pilot. Near war's end, he saw only one enemy plane, a Zero "scooting low, heading for our fleet," as Tom told it. "I got behind him and shot him down from my Corsair.

Tom graduated in law at Northwestern University. Now retired, he lives with wife Janet at 2851 Tony Court, Carlsbad, GA 92009.