Sergeant First Class Thomas Franklin Vaughns (born July 7, 1920) is an American veteran who was a member of the famed group of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

-era

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

s known as the

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of th ...

. He is a recipient of the

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four s ...

in 2019, for his service in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. He is also a member of the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame.

Military service

World War II

Vaughns was drafted his senior year of high school. In 1942 reported for duty at Camp Robinson. He was sent to basic training in

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of th ...

. Vaughns was trained to be a mechanic for

B-25 bomber The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served ...

s. He was then transferred to Tuskegee along with 18 others.

Korean War

Vaughns signed up for the Army Reserves and when the Korean War began he was sent to

Fort Hood Fort Cavazos is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. The post is currently named after Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, a native Texan and the US Army’s first Hispanic four-star general. The post is located halfway between Austi ...

where he served as a mechanic. In 1952 he was discharged as a Sergeant First Class.

Early life

Vaughns family owned a 50-acre farm in Felton, in rural

Lee County, Arkansas Lee County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. With its eastern border formed by the Mississippi River, it is considered to be part of the Arkansas Delta. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, t ...

. He attended Marianna High School in Arkansas. On July 12, 2020, for Vaughn's

100th birthday 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

5 days earlier, a drive-by parade honoring him took place. The parade was organized by the church he attends: Barraque Street Missionary Baptist Church.

Awards

*Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the Tuskegee Airmen in 2006 *

World War II Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal was a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. Histo ...

American Campaign Medal The American Campaign Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had per ...

*National Defense Service Medal (2019) *Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame (2020)

Education

*Marianna High School * Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal College *

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

Personal life

After World War II Vaughns returned home to Pine Bluff, Arkansas. There he worked in education. He also worked monitoring 4-H Club members. After the war, he attended college and married Luvada. He signed up for the Army Reserves and when the

began he was sent to

. In the 1950s he set up a program for farmers to sell their produce in

Crittenden County, Arkansas Crittenden County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 48,163. The county seat is Marion, Arkansas, Marion, and the largest city is West ...

and later in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. His programs provided employment for 1,400 people. He spent the rest of his career occupied with teaching agricultural farming techniques.

References

Notes

External links

Tuskegee Airmen
at

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU; formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute) is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was founded as a normal school for teachers on July 4, 1881, by the ...

Tuskegee Airmen Archives
at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

Libraries.
Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.

(

U.S. National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all national parks; most national monuments; and other natural, historical, and recreational p ...

)
Tuskegee Airmen National Museum
*

Fly Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

(2009 play about the 332d Fighter Group)
Thomas Vaughns
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughns, Thomas Franklin 1920 births Living people African-American centenarians American men centenarians United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Tuskegee Airmen United States Army Air Forces non-commissioned officers United States Army non-commissioned officers United States Army reservists 21st-century African-American people