Major Cletus Thomas "Pinky" Funderburk Tom was born on March 25, 1925 in
Pageland, SC and was nicknamed Pinky because of his bright red hair.
He spent one year at Citadel Military College before entering the
AF Aviation Cadet Program in June 1943. He graduated pilot school
Class 44-C in August 1944 and transitioned to piloting the B-17. Crewing
up in Tampa, he flew a new B-17G to Europe in December 1944. Assigned
to the 8th AF, 493rd Bomber Group, 860th Squadron, Tom flew 17 missions
as a B17 Pilot. His B17 was shot down and belly-landed Leuven, Belgium.
His favorite missions were multiple food drops in Holland and flying
POWs from Linz, Austria to Paris during May 1945. |