Tom Hafford:
CLASS OF 1967
Cairo High SchoolClass of 1967
Cairo, IL
Ripley High SchoolClass of 1971
Ripley, TN
Tom's Story
I was born in Cairo, Illinois on February 26, 1949 to Thomas and Kathryn Hafford. I went to elementary school at Lincoln. I then attended Cairo Jr. High and Cairo High School. Due to a lost English notebook I had to attend summer school for six weeks before graduating. I had a great time growing up in a small town in southern Illinois.
I worked like most young kids cutting grass in the summer and removing snow in the winter. My first real job was working at the Whataburger for the Kline family. That was a summer that I will never forget. I worked for the Site Oil Company and Martin service station while in school. I worked for almost a year at Burkart's on the foam line after high school.
I married a girl from Charleston, Missouri on February 24, 1968 after dating for about a year. I had always planed on joining the military so I joined the US Navy on June 13, 1968. I went to NTC Great Lakes, IL for boot camp to receive military training. It was six weeks of exercise and learning the Navy's rules and regulations. I was transferred to Naval Air Station Millington, TN. There I attended the Aviation Fundamental school and Aviation Machinist school. After finishing these schools I was sent to FITRON 124, NAS Miramar, California Fighter Town USA as seen in the movie Top Gun with Tom Cruise. After finishing this training I was assigned to LIGHTPHOTORON SIXTY THREE the eyes of the fleet in the aircraft maintenance department. I fell in love with San Diego's weather and wonderful beaches. I made two WestPac Vietnam cruises 1970-71 USS Shangri-La and 1971-72 USS Oriskany. (squadron VF124-VFP63-VF121). I was able to visit Hawaii twice it is a paradise. Our deployments took us to the Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Yokosuka, Japan. I was on the USS Midway for a few months before being transferred to NAS Millington.
I got divorced in June 1974, may have been due to only being together three years out of a six year marriage. We have...Expand for more
two sons they live in Sikeston, Missouri.
While stationed in Millington, I worked part-time as a bartender at the base club. I met a co-workers sister and we started dating. She was five years younger then me and a beautiful girl so what can I say we were married six months later. I enjoyed being stationed so close to home. I was able to visit my family more often. During that time my mother passed away from a heart attack. I would drive up to Cairo, and visit my dad about every other weekend. On a trip one weekend I stopped to see dad before returning back to Millington. Not long after I got back on the road I was hit head on by a driver that crossed the center line and into my lane. They said he had been drinking and fell asleep. I was taken to the Memphis VA Hospital ER. I had a spinal cord injury and would spend six months in the hospital. After leaving the hospital I was given an honorable medical discharged and retirement. We moved to Sikeston, Missouri where I build a house in the country. It was wonderful beings close to my family but I needed more things to do. I purchased a home outside Memphis, on Colonial Golf course in a nice area in the country. I was elected as an officer on the board of directors of a veteran organization. I remained working with them until I retired May 25, 2008 as there Executive Director. While there I traveled all over the country seeing places that I would have other wise had never seen. I had a business for several years and worked with a friend for years in his van conversion business. My wife Glenda is retired from working for Lancome cosmetics. We have a daughter Ashley who graduated from the University of Memphis with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. She was married to Marty Sullivan on January 3rd 2008 and they live in Cordova, TN. We have two grandaughters Amber 15 years old and Keri five years old both live in Sikeston, Missouri. I took a year off to catch up on things at home. Now I look forward to traveling next year.
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