Thomas Patrick Gerrity
Thomas Patrick Gerrity | |
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Relations | Thomas P. Gerrity (son)[1] |
Gerrity was born in Harlowton, Montana, in 1913. His family moved to Chicago, Illinois, when he was a child. He graduated from St. Leo High School in 1930, attended Tilden Tech and later the Armour Institute, now the Illinois Institute of Technology, all three schools located in Chicago. He entered military service in August 1939 as an aviation cadet, completed flying school in May 1940 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps Reserve.[2]
His first assignment was with the 15th Bombardment Squadron at
He went to the Philippine Islands in October 1941 with the 17th Bombardment Squadron and was assigned to the Air Ground Support Section of the Luzon Forces. In February 1942 he joined the 21st Pursuit Squadron at Bataan, transferring in April to the 13th Bombardment Squadron for duty in Australia. He assumed command of the 90th Bombardment Squadron on New Guinea in August 1942. During this period he flew 49 combat missions.
In November 1942 Gerrity was assigned to the Army Air Forces Materiel Command at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, as project officer on
In March 1950 Gerrity assumed command of the
Gerrity was transferred to the Air Materiel Command in August 1957 and assumed command of the Oklahoma City Air Materiel Area at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. In July 1960 he was appointed commander of the Ballistic Missile Center of the Air Materiel Command at Los Angeles, California. As a result of the reorganization of the Air Research and Development Command and the Air Materiel Command into the Air Force Systems Command in April 1961, General Gerrity became the first commander of the Ballistic Systems Division in Inglewood, California.
In July 1962 Gerrity became deputy chief of staff for systems and logistics at Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. He also served as senior Air Force member, Military Staff Committee, United Nations. In August 1967 he became commander of the Air Force Logistics Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
His decorations included the
At 7:30 pm on February 24, 1968, Gerrity was "stricken at his home" by a heart attack[3] and rushed to the hospital at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. He was pronounced dead on arrival. He was later buried in Arlington National Cemetery.[4] Upon his wife, Margaret B. Gerrity's death in 1979, she was buried next to him.[5]
References
Specific
- ^ Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- ^ "Biography of General Thomas P. Gerrity". Air Force Historical Research Agency. November 1, 1967. pp. 52–57. Retrieved September 4, 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Redlands Daily Facts, February 26, 1968, Redlands, California
- New York Times. February 25, 1968. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
- ^ Burial Details: Gerrity, Thomas Patrick
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
General
- "General Thomas Patrick Gerrity". United States Air Force. Archived from the original on 2012-12-12. Retrieved August 29, 2011.