Georgia Vietnam Veterans Alliance

TOMMY D. WOOD

Tommy left us on October 13, 2009 to join his fellow Christians who had gone on before. The last few months he fought a tough fight against the brain tumors that had invaded his body.

Tommy Wood was perhaps one of the most intelligent men to ever grace the office of the Georgia Vietnam Veterans Alliance.  Rising from humble beginnings in rural South Carolina he was driving the school bus by the time he was sixteen. He traded the hard working life on the farm for a college scholarship until joining the United States Air Force.

Not content to be just another airman, he attended jump school at Fort Benning and became part of the Air Force Para-rescue group. Thinking that he would be sent to Vietnam after his specialized training the Air Force changed their mind and sent him to England to take part in the space program and collar the capsules as they fell into the ocean.  Upon completion of his service obligation Tommy settled back into life in South Carolina again. He eventually moved to Atlanta and joined the team doing marketing for the GVVA.

He was a visionary in that he recognized the pending failure of the Marketing Company. At that time he saw the need for GVVA to do their own marketing and advised that they do so. From 1994 until today Tommy was the instrument who set up the computer systems, devised the operating system and brought them all together in a highly sophisticated system.

What ever needed doing he did. Veterans needing assistance often talked to Tommy as he tried to sort out their problems and help them get help. He worked with all of the employees to make certain they received fair treatment. He worked with donors to make certain they were thanked with Christmas cards and Thank you cards. When we lost a driver Tommy pitched in a drove two days a week delivering products and picking up checks. He was the heart of the Georgia Vietnam Veterans Alliance.