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Don Thoms his Military Career |
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| S/Sgt. AAC Nose gunner in B24s with the 7th Air Force flew 40 Missions in Asia/Pacific 9/1944 to4/1945 Awarded The DFC at Iwo Jima 2/1945 7 Air medals and 3 Bronze Stars and the Presidential Citation. Army Air Corp. combat tour completed with 40 th mission April 9th 1945 | |||
| Don Thoms his career after the service | |||
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Received his honorable discharge at
Santa Anna Army Air Base July 29th 1945 and 30 days later was enrolled
at the University of Iowa on the G I Bill. He had married in college and
when He graduated in 1949 they headed for California with his B. A.
degree in hand and went into advertising sales.. After 3 years he began
his career in the Life Insurance Business with Equitable Life in New
York.
For 27 years he progressed through the management process at Equitable to his last role with them as Regional Director of all agencies West of the Mississippi. In 1981 he retired and moved to the Desert with a goal to be a "golf boy" 5 or 6 days a week. In 1984 tired of his retirement in the golf business he opened a Mattress Shop in Palm Desert where for four years he worked many long hours and decided to get back into the Golf business and for 12 years was a golf seller ending up as the Pro Shop Manager . His retirement career was abruptly halted when in 1996 at the age of 71 he found out he had Colon Cancer. He underwent Surgery in 1996 and again in 2000 plus 36 weeks of Chemotherapy becoming as Eisenhower Medical Center called him "The Miracle Survivor " |
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| Dom Thoms His Family Life | |||
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| Here in the year 2005 at the age of 80 Don is thankful for many many blessings His life is shared with his wife Mary Lou who has been at his side for 24 years He is blessed with 3 grown successful children Hal, Kristy and Misty and with 7 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren | |||
| Don Thoms his sports and hobbies | |||
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| Don is an avid golfer and his hobby is the Desert Flyers Command where he is an active contributing member and one of the original dedicators of the Distinguished Flying Cross memorial | |||
