Info Sheet/Obituary - Tonny B. Wolfe
Died 8 February 2020
Obituary,
News Article - comments from Centaur friends
Marilyn Wolfe: My husband, Tonny Wolfe, was a part of Troop D (Air) – ¾ Cav, 25th Inf Div.
He was stationed in Cu Chi, Vietnam most of January to December 1968. He was a gunship pilot, and flew Hueys. 10 days after he arrived, he was in the first helicopter that was shot down during the TET offensive in Saigon.
He had many stories to tell, as well as many that he didn’t want me to know about.
He came home from Vietnam with 2 purple hearts, a bronze star with Valor, 23 air medals with Valor, Army Commendation medal, and more that I would have to look up again. I was very proud of him – and still am.
We married 3 weeks after he came home in January 1969. We had a very good life together.
About 2013, we went to one of the reunions (DesMoines, IA). We both really enjoyed meeting with you, and always wanted to go again, but were not able to.
February 8, 2020, Tonny passed away – from complications of coronary heart disease and pneumonia – both associated with his military service.
Tonny Bill Wolfe was born to Bill and Luann Wolfe in Springfield, Missouri on August 15, 1946. Tonny graduated from Central High School in 1964. Then after living for 30+ years in 10 different towns and 11 states for school, military, and work related reasons, he moved back to Springfield to be near family. He went to be with Jesus on February 8, 2020 at home in Springfield, Missouri following a long illness (22 ½ years as a quadriplegic and more recently, a battle with coronary disease and pneumonia.)
Tonny said that he gave his heart to Jesus at age 5, and gave his life to Jesus in his freshman year of high school. He was a strong Christian throughout his entire life. He said, “I married Marilyn, and she kept me on the straight and narrow from then on.” He was active in every church they were in; including serving as Sunday School Teacher and Sunday School Superintendent. He was a member at Central Assembly of God in Springfield, Missouri for 20+ years.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Bill and Luann Wolfe and his sister Patsy Hake. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Marilyn Wolfe; three sons and their wives, Tim and Shellie Wolfe, Erin and Gwen Wolfe, Brian and Tiffany Wolfe; and 4 grandchildren, Zion Wolfe, Asher Wolfe, Selah Wolfe, and Caspian Wolfe; as well as a host of loved ones, extended family, and friends.
He loved flying. He was in Army Aviation as a helicopter pilot for 4½ years, and then in the National Guard for 7 more years, also as a helicopter pilot. In Vietnam, he received 2 purple hearts, a bronze star with V for valor, 23 air medals with V for valor, and more. He owned and flew a Cessna 140 for two years after leaving the military.
He married Marilyn, the love of his life, in 1969 and was father of three sons: Timothy, Erin, and Brian. He dearly loved his family. He loved going to ball games or concerts or plays – whatever the boys were doing. He loved taking the family often to the attractions of the area they currently lived – fun times together – hiking, parks, Mayflower 2, museums, beach, mountains, amusement parks, bookstores, picnics, historical places, national or state parks, and biking trails. He was an avid reader and book collector. He also loved to travel and he loved learning. He recently took an astronomy class several years in a row just because it was so fascinating to him.
He graduated from Central Missouri State with a Mechanical Design Engineering degree in 1973. He loved his work. He worked at various companies over the years as a Senior Design Engineer, designing various projects such as printing presses, hand held computer scanners (such as in grocery stores), personal TVs in airplane seats, various plastics design, as well as redesigning a fork lift tractor. He received one United States Patent. He was partner for a Design Engineering Consulting Company for a year before he became a quad.
At age 51 he became a quadriplegic due to an allergic reaction to medication. His life changed literally overnight. This began 22 ½ years of challenges, physical struggles, and adjustments. Yet through it all, Tonny kept his faith in Jesus, and daily relied on Him for his breath and strength. He chose to be grateful for what he had rather than focus on what was gone. He had a good sense of humor – making comments seemingly coming out of nowhere - making people laugh at the truth of it. He loved people, was liked by everyone, and knew just about everyone’s name. He was a blessing and encouragement everywhere he went.
Beginning about 2000, he had the opportunity to work on The World Missions Touch Screen Project from home as his strength allowed. He had always loved missions, and this was a way that he could be a support for missions. He loved doing this too. He wrote the programming for it. It became the basis for AG Missions online years later. After that project closed, he began designing and servicing websites for Missionaries and Ministries. He did that until two years ago when his health began to decline.
He had finished God’s plan for his life. He was ready and wanting to go to be with Jesus.
Well done, good and faithful servant. You loved and you are loved.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to:
Assemblies of God World Missions
Africa’s Hope Tablet #6827695 (40)
1445 N Boonville Avenue
Springfield, Missouri 65802
Newspaper Article: Springfield Leader and Press (Springfield, Missouri) - 10 Jan 1969
Young Hero Finds War's Not So Good but-
Oh, Those Copters!
By Jim Thompson
Leader and Press Staff Writer
"In the first place, it's hard to like a war..."
And the man making this statement knows whereof he speaks. He has been awarded the Bronze Star, 23 Air Medals (one for heroism) the Army Commendation Medal for heroism, two Purple Hearts, and has been recommended for the Distinguished Flying Cross - at the age of 22.
Chief Warrant Officer Tonny Bill Wolfe, son of the Rev. and Mrs. Billy Wolfe, 420 East Chestnut, is home on leave after a sea as a helicopter gunship aircraft commander, flying his last combat mission two days before stepping off and airliner in Springfield. He graduated from Central High School in a1964 and attended Drury College before enlisting in the Army in 1966.
Wolfe smiles the most when he talks about helicopters.
"I'll probably stay in aviation, and definitely it will be helicopters," he says. He indicated that in his choosing the Army as a career, it would not be because of the Army, but because of the helicopter.
However, the immediate future is already shaped for him as an instructor in helicopters at Fort Rucker, Ala. He will be teaching combat flying tactics to other young men in the Army's Warrant Officer Flight Training Program.
His well groomed "air-ace" mustache with waxed, upturned ends, twitches as he describes the "mosquito," a TH55 trainer helicopter, built by Hughes Aircraft Company, that streaks through the sky like the well known insect. It is the aircraft loved and remembered by Army helicopter pilots because it gave them their first rotary winged flight.
Explaining that his training in Vietnam was an on-the-job type of course, Wolfe, said his first combat mission was on the day after he arrive there.
On the third day he flew into an enemy position of four Chinese made .51 caliber machine guns with special anti-aircraft sight. With a American mini-gunship equipped with 14 rockets and two mini-guns - a 7.62 NATO caliber capable of firing 4000 rounds per minute - the score was more than even, and his "on the-job" training had started.
Wolfe said the he encountered Viet Cong, North Vietnamese soldiers and a few Chinese troops. "The VC will run, but the NVA are very well trained soldiers," he noted. He said a tipoff signal was when you saw a man run. "You then assumed he was enemy, and if he started shooting you could blast him."
Gunships usually go in two at a time, with the team leader in front, he said. Th UH_1C is a gunship with 38 rockets and a .40 milimeter grenade launcher with a capacity of 150 to 300 rounds.
If the identity of people on the ground was in doubt, permission had to be obtained from headquarters before firing. This delaying tactic, Wolfe explained, was to protect any innocent Vietnamese who might be in the vicinity.
What about the draft dodgers at home? " I think they are scared," said the young Springfieldian who still carries a piece of Viet Cong shrapnel in one lung. :Very few people want to go over there, and most of us liked it even less after we got there...and, in the first place, it's hard to like a war."
Frank Dillion: I remember Tonny from the 2013 mini reunion that was held in Des Moines, IA. May he rest in Peace.
Pat Eastes: I think he lived in the same hooch as Mattison/Galloway. He responded to the Glenn Otis notice. Feb 2013. Tonny was Centaur 42 and Centaur 25 during 1968. (He and Charlie Rice got there about the same time.)