Thomas Drew Brindley was born in St. Paul and lived most of his life on the East Side. He attended Farnsworth Elementary School and Cleveland Junior High, where he and a friend used a manual printing press to make and sell business cards. As a teenager he pumped gas at his dad's Brindley Oil Co. station on Payne Ave., and bought himself a '57 Chevy convertible. He loved sports, and played football and hockey with his friends on the Phalen Youth Club teams. He made the varsity hockey team as a sophomore at Johnson High School and played defense in two state high school hockey tournaments. The offer of a hockey scholarship to Colorado College was accepted and he played for three years. Thomas throughly enjoyed his college time, becoming president of the local chapter of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. But his interest in academic pursuits waned and he left Colorado to return to St. Paul in 1965. When the draft board classified him 1A, he joined the Marine Corps and was accepted into Officer Candidate School where he studied harder than ever. He remarked that if he had studied this hard while in college, he'd have been a straight-A student. In October of 1967 Thomas bid farewell to his parents, three brothers, his fiancee and friends as he boarded the flight to Vietnam. He was assigned to India Company in the 3rd Marine Division stationed near the DMZ. As a Second Lieutenant he led a platoon engaged in the hill battles against the army of North Vietnam. His efforts to rescue another platoon of Marines have been chronicled in several books about the siege of Khe Sanh. Within days, Thomas was killed in battle when his platoon reached the top of Hill 881 North, and he was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism. He was 24 years old when he died on January 20, 1968.

Greg Brindley, brother of Thomas Brindley
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Second Lieutenant Thomas Drew Brindley (MCSN: 0-101761), United States Marine Corps Reserve, for extraordinary heroism while serving as a Platoon Commander with Company I, Third Battalion, Twenty-Sixth Marines, THIRD Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in the Republic of Vietnam on 20 January 1968. Lieutenant Brindley's unit was maneuvering toward Hill 881, near Khe Sanh, when the lead elements suddenly came under intense small-arms and automatic weapons fire and sustained several casualties. Reacting instantly, he directed a heavy volume of fire against the enemy and moved his second squad to the point of heaviest contact. Despite the tall elephant grass which restricted movement, he effectively deployed and controlled his men, while suppressing the hostile fire sufficiently to enable the casualties to be taken from the area. Quickly shifting his unit to the base of the hill, under covering fire, Lieutenant Brindley lead an aggressive assault against the opposing force which was entrenched in well-fortified positions supported by .50 caliber machine gun emplacements. Ignoring the fire impacting around him, he continuously moved among his men, encouraging them, controlling the squads and directing his unit's return fire. As the Marines reached the crest of the hill and overran the North Vietnamese positions, they again came under intense fire and suffered additional casualties. In an attempt to pinpoint the source of enemy fire, Lieutenant Brindley, while freely moving throughout the fire-swept area, was struck by hostile fire and fell mortally wounded. By his inspiring leadership and unyielding devotion to duty in the face of overwhelming odds, he upheld the highest traditions of the United States Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.