Andrew went by the name of Drew. He was born on August 2nd, 1940, In New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. The family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, USA, where he was raised, and lived until he joined the Navy in about 1959. He used to tell me that he lied about his age and joined the Reserves when he was 15. It sure helped with the pay he received. He attended Forest Hill High School in Jackson, Mississippi.
I met him while he was stationed at Moffett Field Naval Air Station in Mountain View, California. We met at a party in Mountain View in August of 1962, and we were married on December 16, 1962. We both knew we wanted to be together forever. He had enlisted for four years and decided to leave the Navy in 1963. We moved to his hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. It turned out he missed the Navy, so he reenlisted on May 11, 1964, in Birmingham, Alabama. He was then stationed at the Norfolk Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Virginia. He was an airplane mechanic. We lived in Virginia Beach. We had our daughter, Kelly Marie, at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1965. We had to take a toll bridge to get there, and we were so broke most of the time, we taped the toll amount to the visor in the car, so we would make sure to have the money to cross the bridge.
He was transferred to Lemoore Naval Air Base in Lemoore, California about 1964. We bought a home in Riverdale, California. It was a new home, and we were so excited. We lived there until about 1968. Our son, Scott Andrew, was born at the Lemoore Naval Air Station Hospital in 1967. Drew decided he wanted to sell our house because he was anticipating a transfer soon. We moved onto base housing. The Hangar where he worked was located at the far end of the base from the housing. He had a Dirt Bike (Motorcycle) that he loved to ride and used it to ride to work in good weather.
I remember the birthday party for our daughter (she turned 4), where we went on a picnic with my parents. There were hills nearby where he could ride his bike. I have a mental picture of him holding our two-year-old son in front of him on the bike. He rode the motorcycle to work in good weather.
On April 4th,1969 (Good, Friday), he went to work as usual. We were going to my parents' house in San Jose for Easter when he got home from work. He came home for lunch (we had pork chops), and then returned to work. He called me about 2:00 or 3:00 to let me know he was running a little late. I wasn't worried when he didn't get home. There was a knock on the door, and I opened it to find the Commander and Chaplain on my doorstep. The kids were with me. I wasn't alarmed, because I had just been elected as Secretary of the Navy Wives' Club, and I thought they were there to congratulate me. It wasn't until they asked me to send the kids to another room that the terror struck my heart. They told me he had been hit by a train where the tracks crossed the base between the hangar and our home. We had never seen a train on the tracks. There were no lights or arms to alert anyone either.
I was told later by our neighbor that was following him on his new motorcycle, that Drew kept turning around to check on him while they were riding. The neighbor said that when he turned around and saw the train, it was too late to stop, so he tried to outrun it. The train hit the tail end of his bike and threw him off. He was wearing a helmet, but he had a bump on his head, right at the temple. No other damage to his body.
I lost the love of my life.
Judi Tompkins-Lindbergh-Lewis
I met him while he was stationed at Moffett Field Naval Air Station in Mountain View, California. We met at a party in Mountain View in August of 1962, and we were married on December 16, 1962. We both knew we wanted to be together forever. He had enlisted for four years and decided to leave the Navy in 1963. We moved to his hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. It turned out he missed the Navy, so he reenlisted on May 11, 1964, in Birmingham, Alabama. He was then stationed at the Norfolk Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Virginia. He was an airplane mechanic. We lived in Virginia Beach. We had our daughter, Kelly Marie, at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1965. We had to take a toll bridge to get there, and we were so broke most of the time, we taped the toll amount to the visor in the car, so we would make sure to have the money to cross the bridge.
He was transferred to Lemoore Naval Air Base in Lemoore, California about 1964. We bought a home in Riverdale, California. It was a new home, and we were so excited. We lived there until about 1968. Our son, Scott Andrew, was born at the Lemoore Naval Air Station Hospital in 1967. Drew decided he wanted to sell our house because he was anticipating a transfer soon. We moved onto base housing. The Hangar where he worked was located at the far end of the base from the housing. He had a Dirt Bike (Motorcycle) that he loved to ride and used it to ride to work in good weather.
I remember the birthday party for our daughter (she turned 4), where we went on a picnic with my parents. There were hills nearby where he could ride his bike. I have a mental picture of him holding our two-year-old son in front of him on the bike. He rode the motorcycle to work in good weather.
On April 4th,1969 (Good, Friday), he went to work as usual. We were going to my parents' house in San Jose for Easter when he got home from work. He came home for lunch (we had pork chops), and then returned to work. He called me about 2:00 or 3:00 to let me know he was running a little late. I wasn't worried when he didn't get home. There was a knock on the door, and I opened it to find the Commander and Chaplain on my doorstep. The kids were with me. I wasn't alarmed, because I had just been elected as Secretary of the Navy Wives' Club, and I thought they were there to congratulate me. It wasn't until they asked me to send the kids to another room that the terror struck my heart. They told me he had been hit by a train where the tracks crossed the base between the hangar and our home. We had never seen a train on the tracks. There were no lights or arms to alert anyone either.
I was told later by our neighbor that was following him on his new motorcycle, that Drew kept turning around to check on him while they were riding. The neighbor said that when he turned around and saw the train, it was too late to stop, so he tried to outrun it. The train hit the tail end of his bike and threw him off. He was wearing a helmet, but he had a bump on his head, right at the temple. No other damage to his body.
I lost the love of my life.
Judi Tompkins-Lindbergh-Lewis
Andrew went by the name of Drew. He was born on August 2nd, 1940, In New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. The family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, USA, where he was raised, and lived until he joined the Navy in about 1959. He used to tell me that he lied about his age and joined the Reserves when he was 15. It sure helped with the pay he received. He attended Forest Hill High School in Jackson, Mississippi.
I met him while he was stationed at Moffett Field Naval Air Station in Mountain View, California. We met at a party in Mountain View in August of 1962, and we were married on December 16, 1962. We both knew we wanted to be together forever. He had enlisted for four years and decided to leave the Navy in 1963. We moved to his hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. It turned out he missed the Navy, so he reenlisted on May 11, 1964, in Birmingham, Alabama. He was then stationed at the Norfolk Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Virginia. He was an airplane mechanic. We lived in Virginia Beach. We had our daughter, Kelly Marie, at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1965. We had to take a toll bridge to get there, and we were so broke most of the time, we taped the toll amount to the visor in the car, so we would make sure to have the money to cross the bridge.
He was transferred to Lemoore Naval Air Base in Lemoore, California about 1964. We bought a home in Riverdale, California. It was a new home, and we were so excited. We lived there until about 1968. Our son, Scott Andrew, was born at the Lemoore Naval Air Station Hospital in 1967. Drew decided he wanted to sell our house because he was anticipating a transfer soon. We moved onto base housing. The Hangar where he worked was located at the far end of the base from the housing. He had a Dirt Bike (Motorcycle) that he loved to ride and used it to ride to work in good weather.
I remember the birthday party for our daughter (she turned 4), where we went on a picnic with my parents. There were hills nearby where he could ride his bike. I have a mental picture of him holding our two-year-old son in front of him on the bike. He rode the motorcycle to work in good weather.
On April 4th,1969 (Good, Friday), he went to work as usual. We were going to my parents' house in San Jose for Easter when he got home from work. He came home for lunch (we had pork chops), and then returned to work. He called me about 2:00 or 3:00 to let me know he was running a little late. I wasn't worried when he didn't get home. There was a knock on the door, and I opened it to find the Commander and Chaplain on my doorstep. The kids were with me. I wasn't alarmed, because I had just been elected as Secretary of the Navy Wives' Club, and I thought they were there to congratulate me. It wasn't until they asked me to send the kids to another room that the terror struck my heart. They told me he had been hit by a train where the tracks crossed the base between the hangar and our home. We had never seen a train on the tracks. There were no lights or arms to alert anyone either.
I was told later by our neighbor that was following him on his new motorcycle, that Drew kept turning around to check on him while they were riding. The neighbor said that when he turned around and saw the train, it was too late to stop, so he tried to outrun it. The train hit the tail end of his bike and threw him off. He was wearing a helmet, but he had a bump on his head, right at the temple. No other damage to his body.
I lost the love of my life.
Judi Tompkins-Lindbergh-Lewis
I met him while he was stationed at Moffett Field Naval Air Station in Mountain View, California. We met at a party in Mountain View in August of 1962, and we were married on December 16, 1962. We both knew we wanted to be together forever. He had enlisted for four years and decided to leave the Navy in 1963. We moved to his hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. It turned out he missed the Navy, so he reenlisted on May 11, 1964, in Birmingham, Alabama. He was then stationed at the Norfolk Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Virginia. He was an airplane mechanic. We lived in Virginia Beach. We had our daughter, Kelly Marie, at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1965. We had to take a toll bridge to get there, and we were so broke most of the time, we taped the toll amount to the visor in the car, so we would make sure to have the money to cross the bridge.
He was transferred to Lemoore Naval Air Base in Lemoore, California about 1964. We bought a home in Riverdale, California. It was a new home, and we were so excited. We lived there until about 1968. Our son, Scott Andrew, was born at the Lemoore Naval Air Station Hospital in 1967. Drew decided he wanted to sell our house because he was anticipating a transfer soon. We moved onto base housing. The Hangar where he worked was located at the far end of the base from the housing. He had a Dirt Bike (Motorcycle) that he loved to ride and used it to ride to work in good weather.
I remember the birthday party for our daughter (she turned 4), where we went on a picnic with my parents. There were hills nearby where he could ride his bike. I have a mental picture of him holding our two-year-old son in front of him on the bike. He rode the motorcycle to work in good weather.
On April 4th,1969 (Good, Friday), he went to work as usual. We were going to my parents' house in San Jose for Easter when he got home from work. He came home for lunch (we had pork chops), and then returned to work. He called me about 2:00 or 3:00 to let me know he was running a little late. I wasn't worried when he didn't get home. There was a knock on the door, and I opened it to find the Commander and Chaplain on my doorstep. The kids were with me. I wasn't alarmed, because I had just been elected as Secretary of the Navy Wives' Club, and I thought they were there to congratulate me. It wasn't until they asked me to send the kids to another room that the terror struck my heart. They told me he had been hit by a train where the tracks crossed the base between the hangar and our home. We had never seen a train on the tracks. There were no lights or arms to alert anyone either.
I was told later by our neighbor that was following him on his new motorcycle, that Drew kept turning around to check on him while they were riding. The neighbor said that when he turned around and saw the train, it was too late to stop, so he tried to outrun it. The train hit the tail end of his bike and threw him off. He was wearing a helmet, but he had a bump on his head, right at the temple. No other damage to his body.
I lost the love of my life.
Judi Tompkins-Lindbergh-Lewis
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
