Thomas Fraser Boulware, Jr.
First Lieutenant Thomas F. Boulware, Jr., was a Marine pilot with VMTB-134.
He was killed in a training accident near Goleta, California, on 4 August 1943.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number O-17151
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
CONUS Loss
Because this individual died within the limits of the continental United States, they are not tracked by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
December 6, 1921
at Lone Wolf, OK
Parents
Thomas Fraser Boulware, Sr.
Annie Lear (Fitchett) Boulware
Education
Bristow High School (1939)
Oklahoma A&M (ex-1943)
Occupation & Employer
College student
Service Life
Entered Service
August 14, 1941 (enlisted)
January 8, 1943 (officer)
Home Of Record
Bristow, OK
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Lear Boulware
Military Specialty
Pilot
Communications Officer
Primary Unit
VMTB-134
Campaigns Served
—
Individual Decorations
—
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Thomas Boulware served as a Marine Corps aviator – first as an enlisted radioman, and then as a commissioned pilot. He was among the first fliers chosen to build a new torpedo-bombing squadron, VMTB-134, at Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara during the summer of 1943.
On 4 August 1943, Boulware and Corporal Bernard J. Zawila took off for a routine formation training flight. Their plane was seen to fall out of formation and plunge into the ocean approximately five miles southwest of Goleta, California. Neither Marine was able to exit the aircraft, and their remains could not be recovered from the crash site.
Burial Information or Disposition
None; remains not recovered.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of parents, Tom & Lear Boulware.
Location Of Loss
Approximate location of the crash, five miles southwest of Goleta, California.
