(Rabindronath Tagore)

As a member of a Pararescue Squadron, Jim Thomas selflessly faced danger many times to successfully save the lives of many American personnel during his active service in Vietnam. His bravery was tested countless times, but he never faltered from doing his duty.

Jim Thomas was on a TDY assignment on November 25th, 1971, when, having sucessfully retrieved 13 soldiers whose own helicopter had been shot down, his helicopter took ground fire during the rescue. The crew stopped at a forward base camp to make sure the helicopter was safe to fly, at which point the rescued soldiers alighted.

On the flight back to their home base at Bien Hoa the chopper took more fire and the pilot was hit. It began a slow descent and crashed into a river, breaking in two. Three crew members were found dead. Two crew members who were standing next to Jim, got out and were rescued by friendly forces. A local fisherman saw the crash said a third man, wearing a white t-shirt, also escaped. Jim Thomas was the only member of the crew wearing a white t-shirt. One side of the river was controlled by friendly forces, the other by enemy troops.

When American Prisoners of Ware were released in 1973, Jim Thomas was not among them. He remains unaccounted for.

Since the war ended over 10,000 reports have been received concerning Americans still in captivity in Southeast Asia, but the US has been unable to secure freedom for any of those who remain.

On November 25th, 1998, Jim's wife, Julie, passed away. Her friends say "she died of a broken heart". Julie never knew the fate of her husband and left three daughers, Kimmie, Lisa and Symphony to carry on the fight.

Boake Carter once said, "In times of war, the first casualty is truth.". The truth about Jim Thomas' fate has been witheld to this day, with tragic consequences. His memory lives on through his children and family, and you can visit Kimmie's very personal tribute to her father by clicking on her name.

The detailed information about Jim Thomas' loss was compiled by Homecoming 11 Project 01 April 1991 from one or more of the following: raw data from US Government Agency sources; correspondence with POW/MIA families; published sources; interviews. Updated by the POW Network 1998.