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He was the copilot of a B-52D that was on a mission to bomb storage facilities near Bac Mai Airfield, North Vietnam when it was hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM). His body was never recovered; he is memorialized in Natchez and on Court A of the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
His 2nd Distinguished Flying Cross w/Valor citation:
Captain Thomas W. Bennett, Jr., distinguished himself by heroism while participating in aerial flight as a B-52 Copilot in Southeast Asia on 22 December 1972. On that date, Captain Bennett participated in high priority bombing missions against vital military targets in heavily defended areas of North Vietnam. Despite the intensity of the defensive reaction and the extreme hazard posed by numerous surface-to-air missiles and hostile interceptors, Captain Bennett displayed extraordinary courage and a remarkable ability to place mission requirements above his personal safety as he flew his aircraft to a successful release of his ordnance on the designated targets. The outstanding heroism and selfless devotion to duty displayed by Captain Bennett reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
