GIST, TOMMY EMERSON

Name: Tommy Emerson Gist
Rank/Branch: United States Air Force/O3
Unit:
Date of Birth: 29 October 1939
Home City of Record: Durant OK
Date of Loss: 18 May 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 173155 North  1063714 East
Status (in 1973):
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: RF4C
Missions:
Other Personnel in Incident: Terry Uyeyama, returnee
Refno: 1181

Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families, published sources, interviews and CACCF = Combined Action
Combat Casualty File.  2020

REMARKS:

EGRESS report states UYEYAMA SAW ID CARD - CERTAIN GIST DIED --
HIT IN REAR COCKPIT/EJECTED/SHOT AT/NVN SAID DEAD)

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                                                [ap0518.94 05/25/94]
APn  18-May-94
                         Vietnam-Sharing Grief

Copyright 1994
The Associated Press.
By GEORGE ESPER
AP Special Correspondent

   HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Sara Gist Bernasconi looked at her watch and
remembered that chilling moment in time.

   At 4 p.m., 26 years ago Wednesday, her husband, Air Force Capt. Tommy
Gist, was shot down and declared missing over North Vietnam.....

===========================================

War wife's tribute

Sara Gist-Bernasconi's first husband went MIA in Vietnam. Her second was a
POW. These days, she honors both and the sacrifice of others through her
work at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial.

By Ollie Reed Jr.
Tribune Columnist
May 30, 2005

Sara Gist-Bernasconi trails her hand lightly, reverently, along the wall
listing the names of New Mexicans - mostly military but some civilians - who
have been prisoners of war or designated as missing in action.....

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01/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000BTHEEA4

• Conflict
• Service
• Status

• VIETNAM WAR
• UNITED STATES AIR FORCE
• Unaccounted For

On May 18, 1968, an RF-4C Phantom II (serial number 66-0442) with a crew of two, call sign "Vacuum," was shot down while carrying out a reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. The pilot ejected, was captured by the North Vietnamese, and eventually returned to U.S. custody. When debriefed, he reported that he never saw the aircraft's other crew member after ejecting.

Captain Tommy Emerson Gist, who entered the U.S. Air Force from Oklahoma, served with the 14th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron and was the navigator aboard this aircraft at the time of its loss. He was never reported as a prisoner of war and he remains unaccounted for. Subsequent the incident, and while held in a missing in action status, the U.S. Air Force promoted Captain Gist to the rank of Major. Today, Major Gist is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable.

If you are a family member of this serviceman, DPAA can provide you with additional information and analysis of your case. Please contact your casualty office representative.

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Maj TOMMY EMERSON GIST

• Unit 14 TRS
• Historical Country of Loss
  North Vietnam
• Current Country of Loss
  VIETNAM
• Home of Record OK