Word: thom
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Though Thom took a lot of teasing about his paramilitary pursuits, he fascinated some kids at Mariposa County High School with tales about a secret cave called Havoc, where he claimed to have stored a cache of weapons. Thom could identify knives and guns with uncanny precision, and his military obsession gave rise to a nickname, "G.I. Jenkins." Another was "Indiana Jenkins," since Thom often sported a hat like Indiana Jones' in Raiders of the Lost Ark, his favorite movie. Says his cousin Ed Jenkins: "He was always a dreamer, dreaming of exciting places." His high school yearbook announced, "Expect...
Friends recall that if Thom dove into something, from emergency medical training to playing basketball in high school, he gave it his best. "He never made the first string, but he was always close," says Jon Turner, his English teacher and a Vietnam vet. "If he got in, he'd win the game for you." That was true whether he was square dancing as a kid or out on a county search-and- rescue mission. His steady marksmanship enabled him to bag a four-point buck, whose weathered rack sits on a fence beside his house. Around town, folks knew...
...Though Thom had long wanted to join the Marines, the first time he talked with his dad about it the answer was no. Tom wanted his son to go to college. So he studied criminal justice for a year, planning to become a peace officer. But he got restless and asked again. This time the answer was yes. Explains Jenkins: "I have a saying -- save the boy, destroy...
There was some talk around Coulterville about building a permanent memorial for Thom, but it has been silenced. "We're postponing that decision because he may not be the only one," explains Sharon Tucker, a close family friend. Thom's cousin Ed Jenkins and his friend Jason Turpin are signed up to join the Navy this summer, after they graduate from high school. Ed is the last male in the Jenkins line. "I don't know whether to serve my family or my country," he says. But in his heart he knows he will join the Navy...
...last time Tom Jenkins saw his son alive was after drinking several cups of coffee with him at the breakfast table three weeks before he left for Saudi Arabia. Two days before the funeral, Tom paid a solitary visit to the funeral home in nearby Sonora. He propped Thom's wooden-framed portrait in front of the gunmetal-gray steel casket, then stood quietly to one side, his eyes misting up. It was the first time he'd been alone with his son since Thom ) returned from the Persian Gulf. "Good memories flow," said Jenkins. "They just keep flowing...