SCHEURICH-THOMAS

KILLED  IN  ACTION

Thomas Edwin Scheurich was born on August 19, 1933 in Norfolk, Nebraska.  He reportedly entered the Navy from Nebraska in February 1955.  After flight training, he became a Naval Aviator and historical records report that early during his Navy career he was a pilot with Composite Squadron Thirty-Three (VC-33).  Historical records report that on March 1, 1968 he was a crewmember of Attack Squadron Thirty-Five (VA-35) and was the pilot of Intruder, BuNo 152944, that launched in a flight of three planes from the carrier USS Enterprise to conduct a night attack against targets northeast of Haiphong, North Vietnam.  After rendezvousing off the North Vietnamese coast the three Intruders made their attack.  BuNo 152944 was the third Intruder to make its attack and was heard to radio it was inbound for the target.  This was the last communication ever heard from the plane and upon completion of the attack it failed to rejoin the other two Intruders.  Subsequent efforts to locate the plane were unsuccessful and Scheurich was declared Missing in Action. 

He was reportedly survived by his wife and three children.  The name of Thomas Edwin Scheurich is engraved in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, in Honolulu, Hawaii.  Additionally, a memorial marker for him is located in the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.  Following his death, Thomas Edwin Scheurich was posthumously promoted to the rank of Captain.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)