Thomas William Schaaf

Thomas William Schaaf, Sr., 96, a resident of Fairfax, Virginia for 51 years, passed away on November 4, 2023. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lothar Oscar Schaaf and Irma Kraemer Schaaf. A versatile man, he was a United States Naval Aviator Seaman Recruit (E-1) – Commander (O-5) for 27 years and Vacation Home Company Founder and CEO for 20 years. Thomas “Tom,” “Dada,” “Flamer,” “Tom Terrific,” Schaaf was proud of the year he was born, 1927. This was the same year a young aviation pioneer, Charles Lindberg, completed mankind’s first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, New York to Paris in a grueling 33½ hour lonely overnight flight. It was to inspire and foreshadow Tom’s lifelong romance with aviation. His aviation experience ranged from early days in the Stearman Model 75 bi-plane, surviving a mid-air collision in an SNJ prop trainer, commanding supersonic and nuclear-capable fighter jets, bailing out of one over the Capital Beltway, and wrapping up his final days in the skies with some picturesque flying along the Eastern Seaboard in his son Mike’s turbine engine powered helicopters. Born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Tom joined the Navy during the last year of World War II. Tom chose aviation as his path to service, so at age 17, in 1944, he was accepted into the Naval Aviation Cadet Program. The program led him to Olathe, Kansas, Newberry, South Carolina, Pensacola, Florida, and Kingsville, Texas. Tom quickly mastered his new trade, earning his Wings of Gold, and a Commission as an Ensign of the Naval Reserve. Tom served with several fighter squadrons in the ensuing few years. This, however, was still the pre-Korean War era, and unfortunately, a shrinking Navy meant that most junior officers were being demobilized. Luckily, an Air Wing Commander, impressed with Tom’s flying skills, helped him to obtain a Senatorial appointment to attend the United States Naval Academy, whereby, after four grueling Midshipman years, he could become a Regular Naval Officer. On June 5th 1953, he had the distinction and good fortune to be the first of his Academy classmates married on Graduation Day to a girl from Fairfax, Virginia, Phyllis Ellen Curran. Tom and Phyllis celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary earlier this year. Naval Aviation was Tom’s calling in the world. He served in multiple carrier-based air wings, qualifying to pilot multiple types of fighter and attack aircraft. In 1962, his carrier group was deployed to enforce the blockade of Soviet ships during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the mid-1960’s, Tom was the “flag aide” to the US Navy’s Mediterranean 6th Fleet Strike Group Commander, Rear Admiral Forsyth Massey. As the Admiral’s staff Lieutenant, Tom escorted an array of celebrity visitors to the Flag Ship including Olivia de Havilland, Sophia Loren, Princess Grace of Monaco, Elizabeth Taylor, John Wayne, and William Holden. In 1965, Tom earned a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, with Henry Kissinger having been one of his professors there. A year later he was assigned to the Navy’s Pentagon office for Strategic Nuclear Plans. During this period, while flying a jet proficiency training flight out of Andrews AFB, the engine of his T-1A failed immediately after takeoff. Tom and another pilot also flying in the aircraft both ejected and parachuted to safety. Another year later, in 1967, Tom was assigned to Naval Air Station Lemoore, California. He was promoted to the rank of Commander and was assigned as Executive Officer (second in command) of Attack Squadron VA-93, “The Blue Blazers.” In January 1968, the Squadron deployed to Southeast Asia on the USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) to fly attack and close air support missions in A-4 Skyhawk aircraft. Nearing the halfway point in this tour, the Commander of the squadron was killed in a tragic helicopter accident and Tom assumed command of the squadron earlier than planned. He served the remainder of that deployment and a second combat deployment on the USS Ranger (CV-61) as the ‘Skipper’ of VA-93, this time flying A-7 Corsair II aircraft. In 1969, Tom served a third combat deployment on the USS Coral Sea (CV-43), serving as “Air Boss” in charge of all the carrier’s flight operations. During his combat deployments, Tom was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses, nineteen Air Medals and three Navy Commendation Medals. His wife Phyllis also served as leader for the squadron wives and families back home, keeping morale high and comforting the families of two of the squadron’s pilots who never returned from the war. After retirement in 1972, Tom and Phyllis settled in Fairfax, Virginia, after building the home they lived in for 51 years. Tom was active in civic and political affairs in the County and meanwhile earned a Master’s in Transportation and Urban Affairs from George Washington University. An active Naval Academy alumni, he was a frequent contributor to the Academy magazine, Proceedings. A voracious reader, he enjoyed writing book reviews on military history and commentaries on current events. He also served as a Forestry and Ship Building Industry advisor at the National Headquarters for both of Ronald Reagan’s 1980 and 1984 Presidential campaigns. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Tom was part of the team led by former Chief of Naval Operations and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Thomas Moorer, to repurpose former Soviet ballistic missiles for civilian satellite launches. Tom is survived by his wife of 70 years, Phyllis; five sons and one daughter, sixteen grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Tom passed away peacefully in his sleep while under hospice care. He was cremated for burial at Arlington National Cemetery at a time yet to be determined. Please click on the link below to watch an interview Tom did for the Marine Corps History Museum about his close air support for Marines at the Battle of Khe Sanh during the Vietnam War. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kWpMCKvC-udniJTnz-R5Ct5lCmH8OvpR/view?usp=drive_link