To commemorate National Airborne Day, join us at the ASOM on August 15 for a Lindsay Lecture Series event with Thomas Ross, author of “Rescue in the Valley of the Tigers." Members of the 281st Assault Helicopter Company will also be attendance.

All active duty service members and Vietnam War Veterans get in free upon registration.

Additionally, there will be a Vietnam War Veteran pinning ceremony at the conclusion of the event.

Ross will also offer book signings at the event. If you don't have your own copy, you can purchase from the Museum Store the night of.

About The Author:

Thomas A. (Tom) Ross, was raised in Pensacola, Florida where he lived with his family until he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1966.

After receiving a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant, Tom applied to and was accepted by the U.S. Army Special Forces, the elite unit also known as the "Green Berets". Compelled to serve at a time when our country's involvement in Southeast Asia was escalating, Tom volunteered for service in Vietnam.

After more than a year of unconventional warfare training, Tom was sent to South Vietnam as a military advisor. He arrived “in-country” during the infamous 1968 Tet Offensive that involved simultaneous enemy attacks all over South Vietnam. He was immediately assigned a combat position as the Operations and Intelligence Officer of Detachment A-502, the largest Special Forces "A" Team ever formed. These positions provided Tom with a unique vantage point from which he was able to observe both men and women as they coped with their wartime assignments.

After returning to the United States, Tom was shocked to learn that American civilians were spitting on the uniforms of returning soldiers while hurling hateful epithets at them. In response, he immediately began writing "Privileges of War", a book that tells good stories of the selfless and courageous deeds that he witnessed in Vietnam.

The book also recounts the inspiring true story of a unique rescue mission. When three brave mountain villagers escaped the enemy captors, who had enslaved and abused them for years, they made their way to one of A-502’s outposts.

After Tom was called to the outpost, the lead villager, Mang Quang, begged him for help in rescuing his family and the other families held hostage. Responding to a passionate plea for help, Tom planned and led a rescue team deep into enemy territory. Flown to the village by the 281st Assault Helicopter Company and guided by Mang Quang, mist was still rising from a steamy jungle when the team attacked early the next morning.

August 13, 1968, Walter Cronkite reported the story on the CBS Evening News. 165 men, women and children had been freed as a result of the daring and extremely dangerous rescue mission in — the Valley of the Tigers.

Today, Tom is the President and CEO of his own successful custom design jewelry firm, The Ross Jewelry Company, in Atlanta, Georgia. Not surprisingly, he remains extremely dedicated to family, friends, community, and country.

About The Book:

Rescue in the Valley of the Tigers tells the exciting true story of a life-saving mission mounted by a small group of daring young Americans determined to give the gift of freedom to inhabitants of a remote mountain village. Deep within enemy territory, the Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army had held and used the villagers as slaves for more than eight years. The story exemplifies the characteristically American traits of resourcefulness, integrity and courage that demonstrate the true nature of those who represented our country on the Vietnam battlefield.

Lindsay Lecture Series | National Airborne Day Event With Thomas A. (Tom) Ross