Major Thomas Sterling was an Air Force officer who served as an Electronic Warfare Officer on a F-105 with the 357th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Takhli Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, from February 1967 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on April 19, 1967. After spending 2,147 days in captivity, LtCol Sterling was released during Operation Homecoming on March 4, 1973. He retired from the Air Force as a Colonel on September 1, 1974.