Word: thom
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
After arriving in Saudi Arabia with the 1st Combat Engineers Battalion, Thom fought boredom by keeping pet scorpions -- the first one, named Maurice, died; the other was called Mel Torme -- in a camouflaged desert shelter. In one letter home, he pleaded for Tabasco to spice up his rations, and in another he told a fire-fighting friend to keep the boisterous Magnolia Saloon on Main Street from burning down so they could enjoy his first legal beers there upon his return. At home, a Queensland heeler puppy named B.B. and a cat named P.J. are still waiting...
Protected by a web of friends, the Jenkins family spoke to no outsiders during the week following Thom's death. When they finally did, it was to reminisce for several hours as the warm winter sun sank behind the mountains. They shed no tears, but rather smiled and even laughed as the memories poured forth. Though pain seemed to burn in their eyes, the healing had begun...
Just five days after hearing of Thom's death, his parents received a letter written a few days before he died. He wrote that he had never seen so many planes in his life, and that he expected to head into Kuwait after the bombing had softened up the Iraqis. He had latched onto an infantry corporal who knew his business. "He's teaching me a lot," Thom wrote. "It's weird, but I'm not scared. Nervous, I guess, but not scared. I've been preparing for this for a year now, and ((Aunt)) Jean would probably...
Last Christmas his parents sent Thom a 35-mm camera, and the photos from the roll he mailed home in January are among his family's greatest treasures. One shows Thom clowning around in a red-checked kaffiyeh under a camouflage net. Another portrays him standing in his tent, an M-16 on his arm and a cigarette hanging jauntily from his mouth. Several others show his light armored vehicle, hauntingly dubbed "Blaze of Glory." Painted on one side is a cartoon of an armed Saddam Hussein atop a camel, his body framed within the cross hairs. Says Dan Bartok...
...Thom's roots are deep in the rocky mountain soil, stretching back seven generations to Coulterville's first settlers. His forefathers arrived in the 1850s, shortly after the California gold rush began. This proud heritage infused every bit of his 6-ft. 1-in., 180-lb. frame. In some of Thom's desert pictures, his greenish-brown eyes, often hidden behind mirrored sunglasses, are filled with the glint of a growing confidence as he began to make his way in the world. His bearing betrayed a lifelong fascination with the military. Thom often wore camouflage pants and shirts...