Air Force Staff Sgt Walkup was assigned to the 20th Special Operations Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida, as a flight engineer. The 20th Special Operations Squadron typically conducts low-level penetration operations into enemy territory, providing air support for ground troops and resupplying Special Forces units. Walkup was onboard an MH-53 Pave Low helicopter conducting combat operations for 'Operation Mountain Resolve' when it crashed nine miles east of Bagram Air Base. A compressor problem caused one of the two engines on the Pave Low to stall, leaving it with one engine operating and too much weight to carry in the thin mountain air. The pilots attempted to jettison the auxiliary tanks without success and then the other engine stalled while an emergency landing was being attempted. With all power lost, the helicopter fell from an altitude of about 200 feet onto an uneven river bank, rolled over and burst into flames. Eight people somehow managed to survive. Thomas enlisted in the Air Force at 18, soon after graduating in 1996 from Millville High School where he played on the junior varsity baseball team. At his funeral service, mementos and photos of Thomas were on display. Flanking the opposite side of his coffin were his flight helmet, camouflage gear and volunteer firefighter badge carefully arranged. Bearing the prestigious Purple Heart and Medal of Honor, his newly pressed military uniform hung along one side of his flag-draped coffin. Photographs on display showed the many faces of Thomas – one with him grinning with a rubber glove on his head, vacationing with his wife in Mexico, and sporting a Happy New Year hat and merrily blowing on a party favor. He also loved to go camping and was a volunteer firefighter with the Holley-Navarre Fire Dept in Florida. Everyone remembered how much fun he was and that he was usually smiling. Kayla Murphy, 14, whom Thomas occasionally baby-sat said, "He was the fun baby-sitter." She recalled one time when he accidentally locked them outside her home and he had to break his way back in thru the kitchen window. But there was also another side of Thomas, the military side. He was the stoic professional who took very seriously what he did. In a recent email sent to his family he said, "I will fly with two American flags in my tactical bag, one for each of you. I will continue to fly these flags with me through all I encounter, then hopefully one day I'll get the chance to give them to you personally." He is survived by his wife, Staff Sergeant Carissa Walkup. Thomas' second funeral was on January 21, 2004. An honor guard preceded a horse-drawn caisson containing a single flag-draped coffin with the remains of the five servicemen killed in the crash; Air Force Maj Steven Plumhoff, Air Force Staff Sgt Walkup, Air Force Tech Sgt Howard Walters, Sgt Phillip Albert, and Air Force Tech Sgt William Kerwood. Because their remains were commingled, the five received a single burial. All five names appear on a single tombstone.

(bio by: Brenda Normandin)