Campus Life
Campus Life honors Col. Thomas Nelson Moe USAF (Ret.) '75MA,
the recepient of the Rev. William Corby, CSC, Award.
[Reprinted from the Alumni Newsletter, September 2001.]
Col. Thomas Nelson Moe USAF (Ref.)
'75MA of Lancaster, Ohio, will receive The Rev. William Corby, CSC,
Award during halftime of the Navy football game on Nov. 17, having
distinguished himself during 30 years in the U.S. Air Force,
government service and at Notre Dame. Commissioned as a Distinguished
Graduate from Capital University in 1965, Tom went on to pilot
training and Vietnam. In January, 1968, a weapon malfunction blew up
his F-4C aircraft 20 miles behind enemy lines, and Tom was held
prisoner of war until March, 1973. Throughout this five-year ordeal at
the hands of the Viet Cong, Tom exhibited incredible courage and
strength of character. He chronicled his POW experience in a winter
1995-'96 Notre Dame Magazine artIcle, "Pure
Torture."
He earned two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, the
Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star Medal with "V"
for valor, two purple hearts, seven Air Medals and the POW Medal.
Following his repatriation, Tom enrolled at Notre Dame and
received a master's degree in government in May, 1975. He then
returned to flying and established himself as one of the top fighter
piiots in the Air Force and was selected to be one of the first
pilots of the then-brand-new F-16. He became chief of F-16
academics, wrote the original training course, and was given command
of a fighter squadron. In 1988, Tom was selected for air attache
duty at the United States Embassy in Switzerland. He returned to the
U.S. in 1992 and spent five years at Notre Dame as a professor of
aerospace studies, commander of the Air Force ROTC, and research
fellow in the Kroc Peace Institute. Tom currently serves as
development officer at Capital University in Columbus OH.
He and his wife, Christine, have three children, Connie, Erik and
Ryan.
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