Remembering Thomas E. Childress

Oceanside man a veteran of Chosin Reservoir battle, Vietnam War

By KATHY DAY - For the North County Times | Friday, March 28, 2008 6:13 PM PDT ∞

OCEANSIDE ---- After Thomas E. Childress died March 14, his children took a stroll down memory lane as they sifted through pictures they found at his house, his daughter Jeannie Rickard said Thursday.

Along that road, they found a photo from 1950 taken at Camp Pendleton, before the then-teenager shipped out to serve in the Korean War. And they found photos from his second retirement ceremony in 1980, when he worked on Camp Pendleton as a landscaper, she said.

Childress, who was 76 when he died, was born Dec. 29, 1931, in Greenville, Ky., where his father worked in the mines before becoming a sharecropper. He had only an eighth-grade education, his daughter said, noting that he needed to work to help support the family during what he told Rickard were very lean times.

Shortly after he landed in Korea, Childress fought in the November-December 1950 battle of the Chosin Reservoir, one of the legendary battles in military history. For days, thousands of U.S. Marines from the 1st Division, with Army troops and a contingent of British soldiers, fought more than 100,000 Chinese in sub-zero temperatures near Manchuria.

Among the many thousands injured was young Childress, who received a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, his daughter said.

Later, he became a member of the San Diego County chapter of the Chosin Few, a group that gathers regularly to keep the spirit of its service alive.

Childress stayed in the Marines and served two tours in Vietnam, where he was wounded again, she said.

In 1968, while at the processing center preparing to head home, he was sent back to the front, said his older son, Doug. "His lieutenant got shot, and he went out to grab him and pull him out of the line of fire. Dad got shot in the hand saving him."

Tom Childress was very proud of his service, said his younger son, Scott.

After retiring as a gunnery sergeant, he worked on the construction of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station and drove for a towing service. Later, he went back to Camp Pendleton as a civilian employee.

His daughter described him as "the strong, silent type" in his younger years and not a very social person then.

But, she recalled, Nov. 10 was always a special time. It was not just the anniversary of his marriage to his wife, Patsy, but also the Marine Corps' birthday, so each year the couple would dress up and attend the Marine Corps ball, she said.

Her mother died just one month shy of their 51st anniversary, Jeannie Rickard said.

Later, after leaving the service, Tom Childress became much more outgoing, his children said.

Doug Childress said his father loved meeting people and had pens printed with his name and address on them so when he met someone, he could give one to them.

"He could meet a total stranger and carry on a conversation," Doug Childress said.

Their dad loved sports, from fishing off the Oceanside pier and playing golf to bowling in the Palomar Nisei League with Doug and friends he had made in the service. The two also umpired baseball games together, Doug said.

Scott said one of his fondest memories is watching the Super Bowl with his dad when he was a mere 6-year-old who hardly knew what football was. The Cowboys lost to the then-Baltimore Colts, he said.

"Even so, I said I liked the guys with the stars on their helmets . And that began a 39-year love affair with the Cowboys."

Thomas Childress is survived by his three children, their spouses, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.