Thomas Anthony Backal

Transcription

1 North Texas Patriot Guard Riders Thomas Anthony Backal Mission Summary Military Branch: Classification: Service: Obituary: Mission Segments: National PGR Link: United States Navy Veteran Vietnam Veteran; FMF Corpsman Awards include the Vietnam Service Medal with 2 Bronze Service Stars and the FMF Combat Insignia Obituary Memorial Service, Inurnment Service Condolences Link It is strongly encouraged that everyone goes to the Condolences Link above and post a brief message of condolence/sympathy to the family on the loss of their loved one. It is regularly mentioned how those kind words bring great comfort to a family member. Calendar Link: Mission Ride Captain: Ride Captain # 2: Photography: Summary: North Texas Calendar Wendy Ingersoll califbabe55@yahoo.com (817) Mark Ingersoll bluhog@gmail.com (817) Permission granted We have been invited by the family of Thomas Anthony Backal to join them in honoring the life and military service of their loved one. We will do this by standing the flag line at his Celebration of Life, then again graveside at his inurnment.

2 Part 1 Funeral Service Mission Date: Saturday, October 14, 2017 Staging Time: 1130 Briefing Time: 1145 In Position/KSU Time: 1200 Starting Time: 1230 Staging Point: Staging Address: Staging Area Map: Wildwood Chapel of the Restland Cemetery Greenville Avenue Dallas, TX Link to Map Staging Area GPS: , Details: We will stage at the Wildwood Chapel, on the grounds of Restland Funeral Home and Cemetery. After assisting with the placement of the flags the mission brief will be given. We will then stand tall and silent to receive the family and friends of Thomas Backal. Once the service begins, we will retrieve the flags and return them to the support vehicle where they will be furled and stowed. A few flag bikes may be assigned to ride the short procession from the chapel to the inurnment site there on the grounds, then the remaining riders will proceed with the support vehicle to set the flags. NOTE: A map of the Restland property is included in the PDF file attached to this mission itinerary. We will NOT be staging in the front parking lot per our usual, we will be staging directly at the Wildwood Chapel. Flag/Water Support: Yes; Larry Cape Part 2 Inurnment Service Mission Date: Saturday, October 14, 2017 Staging Time: 1245 Briefing Time: 1245

3 In Position/KSU Time: 1300 Starting Time: 1330 Staging Point: Staging Address: Staging Area Map: Christian Orthodox Memorial Garden of the Restland Cemetery Greenville Avenue Dallas, TX Link to Map Staging Area GPS: , Details: After assisting the support person in the placement of the flags, we will stand tall and silent and await the arrival of the short procession from the chapel bringing Thomas Backal, his family and friends. At the conclusion of the service, and at the direction of the ride captain, we will retrieve the flags and return them to the support vehicle where they will be furled and stowed. Once the post mission brief has been given, all riders will be dismissed. NOTE: The family has requested that the PGR carry Mr. Backal in the procession from the chapel to the inurnment site, so this will be done by the ride captain. Also, the time of the inurnment is approximate as the length of the Celebration of Life was unknown at the time of this posting. Flag/Water Support: Yes; Larry Cape PDF: Obituary: Obituary for Thomas Anthony Backal Source: Restland Funeral Home T A B P August 30, 2017 in Lampe, Missouri. He was born to Edward and Anna Backal on March 18, 1947 and raised in Oak Lawn, Illinois. Upon graduation from high school in 1966 and due to his love of the water, he joined the U.S. Navy. After completion of boot camp, he requested duty at Camp Pendleton, California in the U.S. Marine base hospital. One of the many opportunities as a Navy medic is to work in direct support of the Marine Corp o decision, he was assigned to a Marine Corp regiment and deployed to Vietnam as a Navy Corpsman in In his capacity as a Navy Corpsman assigned to a Marine Corps unit, he received the Vietnam Service Medal with tw B V C M T T M who suffered a crushed throat when his Jeep was demolished by a land T M rted a plastic tube (a M F

4 P O T C B T sustained an injury during this act of courage, Tom received his second Purple Heart medal. Since this was the second Purple Heart he received, and due to the injuries he sustained, Tom received an early honorable discharge on April 16, He served the remainder of his enlistment at the Naval Station Great Lakes and ultimately left the service of our country in May Service Medal with two Bronze Stars and the Vietnam Campaign Medal. T T life of a Marine, who suffered a crushed throat when his Jeep was demolished by T M M F P O T C Because Tom sustained an injury during this act of courage, Tom received his second Purple Heart medal. Since this was the second Purple Heart he received, and due to the injuries he sustained, Tom received an early honorable discharge on April 16, He served the remainder of his enlistment at the Naval Station Great Lakes and ultimately left the service of our country in May Upon returning home, Tom married his childhood sweetheart, Elaine Marie Koblosh. The two met at church in 1956 on the playground and would be married for 33 years. They had two children, Thomas Paul Backal and Tracey Lynn Allen. To support his family, Tom worked as a time and efficiency expert at Hendrickson Motor Truck Company in Chicago, Illinois. In early 1978, Tom and Elaine came to the realization that Chicago was not the place they wished to raise their children and moved to Dallas where Tom secured employment at Marmon Motor Company as a material planner, later taking on an additional role with a sister company, Space Corporation. While Tom enjoyed his work, his passion for building things eventually overtook him. After several years of building a foundation to transition his passion of building aquariums and working with tropical fish, Tom started his own company, Aquarium Warehouse. Over the next 15+ years Tom would design and construct aquariums for professional athletes, Las Alamos Nuclear research facility and Bass Pro Shops. It was his last project for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution that became his favorite. Tom was contracted by Woods Hole in conjunction with NASA to build 26 acrylic enclosures to send to the International Space Station to study the effects of weightlessness on tadpoles. D T E I early 2000, Tom decided to sell his interest in Aquarium Warehouse and find something that would allow him to spend more time with his wife. Tragically, Elaine passed away in 2002, following 33 years of marriage and P E purchased a Carver motor-yacht. The boat was christened the Mystic Lady and berthed at Eisenhower Yacht Club on Lake Texoma. After her passing, Tom went to find comfort in a place he had always felt at peace, the T L T away from home for the next several months providing him not only a place to draw closure to one chapter of his life but an opportunity to begin a new

5 chapter. It would be during his time aboard the Lady that he would find the woman he would spend the rest of his life with. Through a mutual friend in the boathouse where the Lady was kept, Tom met Kathy Whitman. The two quickly became the best of friends and while neither can tell the exact moment their relationship changed, they joined households in 2003 in Dallas, Texas. With a love of wide open spaces and fresh air, Tom and Kathy sought to leave the hustle and bustle of city life and, in November 2005, purchased Heritage Ranch Bed and Breakfast in Lampe, Missouri. For the next 6 years they commuted weekly preparing for their eventual retirement to the property. Tom retired first in 2011 and Kathy followed a year later. They were married in Angel Fire, New Mexico in December of In addition to his wife Elaine and his parents, his brother Edward Backal preceded him in death. Tom is survived by his son Tom Backal, daughter Tracy Allen, step-daughter Mica Petersen and her husband Paul, stepdaughter Kim Moncibais as well as 8 grandchildren Brandon and Tiffany Allen, Rigney, Phillip, Mary Clare and Pike Peterson and Bailey and Cam Moncibais. The family would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Tommy Pate for his loving care and friendship. MRC Notes:

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