Thomas Ray White
| Capt. Thomas R. White | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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Information about Captain White is very limited. Because he was not killed during combat he is excluded from most of the Veteran Memorial websites. He does not have a profile that we have been able to find on Together We Served. Although we have a premium subscription to Newspapers.com, we have not been able to uncover an obituary for Captain White, nor any other articles outside of those that discuss the crash. We will continue our search for more information, but if you have any information on Captain White, please contact us so that we can update his record.
Military Service
- Rank: Captain
- Serial Number:
- Type: Pilot
- Squadron: 603rd Air Commando Squadron
Missions
16 Dec 1964 - The plane took off during the morning of Wednesday, 16 Dec as part of a flight of 3 planes. It was flying a bombing run exercise where it was equipped with live ammunition. Cpt. White died in the crash, but 1LT Bourne was able to parachute clear of the plane but suffered serious injuries and was hospitalized.
Subsequent to my posting the crew information, Dave Cantin of the CAF sent me a link to a 2010 Interview with Mr. Bourne himself. (https://www.vimeo.com/11069761). According to Mr. Bourne, the plane was flying over Bombing Range 65 at Eglin and was practicing low-level napalm and bombing runs. They were having some electrical issues in their plane. As they came in for another pass something didn't feel right to Mr. Bourne and he was about to flip the "Master Arm" switch to off to abort the run, but he wasn't able to act in time. The plane was travelling at around 300 mph and 30 or 40 feet above the ground. As the bombs fell out of the bomb bay they exploded essentially under the plane, sending pieces of shrapnel all through the wing, cockpit, and fuselage. Mr. Bourne checked the bomb bay compartment and could see that they were on fire. Cpt. White began to climb so that they had enough time to bail out. At about 400 feet above the ground the fire reached the cockpit and exploded the 100 gallon bomb bay tank that sat in the back of the cockpit and engulfed the cockpit in flames. Bourne and Cpt. White both reached up and pulled the emergency ejection handle that jettisoned their canopies so that they could bail out. They looked at each other and Maurice grabbed the window and rolled to the right, falling out of the plane, being swept over the wing and under the tail. At some point after bailing out he was either hit with debris, or snagged his leg on debris, but he lost his right leg at the knee. After he landed he waited in the swamp for about an hour until the helicopter from Eglin found him and returned him to base. Cpt. White did not survive. According to Maurice, he believes that Cpt. White waited until after Maurice had cleared the plane before he attempted to bail out and that this delay to ensure the safety of his navigator cost the pilot his life.
Citations & Awards
- Unknown
Planes
Crew
1Lt Maurice W. Bourne
Disposition
- Died 16 Dec 1964
Personal Life
Thomas Ray White was born 23 September 1933 to Delbert Ray White and Mary Ellen (Copeland) White.
Thomas Ray White graduated from T. C. Hassell Elementary, Forest Ave. High, Class of January, 1952, and East Texas State University, Class of 1956. He lived in the vicinity of Parry Ave. and Fourth Ave. near Fair Park in Dallas.
He enrolled in the Air Force ROTC at East Texas State University and was awarded an Air Force commission upon graduation. He went to flight school and became a bomber pilot. He flew over 100 missions in Vietnam before he knew anything about Vietnam. After he completed his duty in Vietnam he rotated back to the States where he was stationed in Florida.
He was killed in a training exercise while in Florida.
He was buried in the Dallas - Ft. Worth National Cemetery.
Family
He was survived at the time by a wife, a son, a daughter, both parents, a brother and a sister.
Ruth Ann (Moore) White (widow)
Delbert Ray White (father)
Mary Ellen (Copeland) White (Mother)
Images
Records and Personnel Information
Personnel Data on these pages came from the following sources:
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund - Wall of Faces (www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces)
- Honor States (www.honorstates.org)
- Together We Served (http://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf)
Because we are not direct kin to this service member the Office of Personnel Management and the National Archives charge us between $75-150 to request the official military records for this member. We do not have the budget to purchase those records for every service member. If you are a family member of this person and you have additional records or information you can share with us, please contact us so that we can update our files. If you are a direct kin (parent, sibling, or child) and you would like to request this service members records from OPM, contact us and we can help walk you through the process. (OPM does not charge a fee to provide records for next of kin).