"Usually when you are doing a specific job some place, your war is limited to what you see and you don’t really get into the big debates about what’s going on at the United Nations." (Audio interview, 1:24:26)

Frank Jeannin Tomlinson

Frank Tomlinson, Hawaii [1954] War: Korean War, 1950-1953; Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Cold War Branch: Air Force Unit: 16th Fighter Squadron; 56th Special Operations Wing (SOW); 326th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (FIS), 317th FIS Service Location: Suwon, Korea; also: Nakhon Phanom, Thailand; also: Grandview Air Force Base (AFB) and Richards-Gebaur AFB, Missouri; Tyndall AFB, Florida; Elmendorf AFB, Alaska; USAF Inspector General, Norton AFB, California; North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Oslo, Norway; Andrews AFB, Maryland (Base Commander) Rank: Colonel Place of Birth: TX

For Colonel Frank Tomlinson, joining the Air Force was what he terms a “watershed moment.” Leaving his small hometown of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, he discovered a passion and aptitude for flying planes, which he decided to make his career. Following service in the Korean War, and stints at stateside bases, he volunteered for a combat tour in Southeast Asia and was sent to Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Base in Thailand in November 1968, where he spent most of his time performing search and rescue ("Sandy") missions, looking for downed American aviators. Interviewed here by his daughter, he also comments on what his career military service meant to his family.