THOMAS L. SHEETS, 1LT, USAF

Thomas Sheets '51

Date of birth: March 29, 1927

Date of death: March 31, 1953

Age: 26

Lucky Bag

From the 1951 Lucky Bag:

Thomas Llewellyn Sheets

Woodbine, Iowa

"Thorn" came to our ranks from the Army Air Corps . . . first of his family to venture to Navy . . . claims to be a thirty-year man . . . can't make up his mind whether to return to the Air Corps or to become a submariner . . . wears his hair as long as regulations will permit . . . that is, what hair he has . . . always singing something ... it may not be a song, but he is still singing ... had a rather trying time on youngster cruise ... he thought it was to be a pleasure cruise . . . says he might not stand high enough in his class to become an admiral, but still contends that he will make it someday.

Thomas Llewellyn Sheets

Woodbine, Iowa

"Thorn" came to our ranks from the Army Air Corps . . . first of his family to venture to Navy . . . claims to be a thirty-year man . . . can't make up his mind whether to return to the Air Corps or to become a submariner . . . wears his hair as long as regulations will permit . . . that is, what hair he has . . . always singing something ... it may not be a song, but he is still singing ... had a rather trying time on youngster cruise ... he thought it was to be a pleasure cruise . . . says he might not stand high enough in his class to become an admiral, but still contends that he will make it someday.

Loss

Thomas was lost on March 31, 1953 when the F-94 Starfire he was piloting crashed near Anchorage, Alaska.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Thomas graduated from Red Oak High School in in 1944. Sports (basketball,) Dramatics, Hi-Y, Letter Club, Acorn Staff. He then attended the Univesity of Nebraska, Lincoln, for one year and then enlisted in the United States Army on 21 June 1945. He won a congressional appointment to the Naval Academy while serving in Germany.
His father Howard was a battery merchant, mother Leona, and sisters Dorothy and Margaret.

He is buried in Iowa.