Tom Van Alyea - Ensign

Rank: Ensign
Date Of Death: Oct 1, 1945
War / Conflict: World War II
Hometown: Ames, Iowa
Gold Star Hall - Wall Location: West Wall (by Entrance Door)

Biography

Year at ISU: 1945

Ensign Tom C. Van Alyea '45, of Park Ridge, Ill., earned his wings in February 1945. He was among 18 Navy flyers killed in the crash of a transport plane in northeastern Oklahoma on Oct. 31, 1945. Alyea had been assigned to fly planes from the Midwest to bases in Florida and was returning from a mission when the crash took his life.