News
COMBAT IN VIETNAM GIRDS HIM FOR LIFE;
THE WINNER OF TWO DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSSES CREDITS IDEALS OF PATRIOTISM AND DUTY
Published by: Orlando Sentinel
Print date: August 13, 2003
Written by: Michele Duncan
In Vietnam, Thomas K. Equels won military honors as an Army aviator.
Equels, 51, who practices law in Orlando and South Florida, credits his time in the military with giving him the structure and discipline that allowed him to do well in school and in life.
About 30 years after he won two Distinguished Flying Cross medals for his service during the war in Vietnam, Equels will soon be inducted into an elite society for those who have won that high honor.
At a ceremony this fall in San Diego, Equels will join the Distinguished Flying Cross Society.
Stanley Grey, president of the society's southeast Florida chapter, said only a limited number of military aviators have earned the cross since its introduction in 1926.
Equels, a litigator and managing director of the law firm Holtzman Equels, said he took his experience in battle and has applied it to his life, which makes this newest distinction one of his most prized among his many accomplishments.
His two crosses came from his service in Vietnam with the 48th Assault Helicopter Co.
He earned his first medal early in the spring offensive of 1972 when five divisions of the North Vietnamese Army invaded South Vietnam. Equels, co-pilot of a Cobra helicopter gunship that took about 50 hits from enemy fire, was part of a successful rescue mission that in the words of the presidential order of the Distinguished Flying Cross "aided significantly in averting a near tragedy."
His second followed a battle in September 1972 near the town of Tian Phuoc, South Vietnam, where he provided gunfire, destroyed two tanks and inflicted massive casualties on the enemy forces.
His other military honors include a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, 15 air medals and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry.
When he returned from Vietnam, he earned bachelor's and master's degrees summa cum laude from Troy State University and his juris doctorate with high honors from Florida State University's law school.
He was awarded The Florida Bar President's Pro Bono Service and the Federal Bar Public Service awards. His community service honors include the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Guild of Catholic Lawyers St. Thomas More awards.
His military duty influenced his choice to be a lawyer, he said.
His work includes representing clients in civil litigation, government relations, appellate and personal injury matters. His law career, he said, enables him to be an "instrument of social justice" that started with his duty in the Vietnam War.
"I was a 19-year-old who believed in creating a world of free people living in democratic institutions," he said. "When I returned from Vietnam, I became a lawyer, determined to devote a part of my practice to social justice."
The military helped with his scholastic and professional achievements, but he said it was mostly the love and support from friends and family that helped him go from a military environment back into civilian life.
Unlike so many other veterans who returned disillusioned, he said he was determined to hold on to the original ideals of patriotism and duty that drove him to enlist in the first place.
"I still think that we can change the world for the better, a little bit at a time, by dealing with everyday matters that are within our power and abilities," he said. "No matter how difficult things become, the willingness of brave citizens to serve is what counts. Whether serving as a helicopter pilot in combat or serving food at a church soup kitchen for the homeless, our country and our communities depend on such service. It is vital to the preservation of liberty and our democratic institutions."