Family Story

(Tom Andrix, My Grandfather)

One of the A6 Intruder jets my grandfather flew getting ready to fly

My grandfather, Tom Andrix, was in the Vietnam war for a year. He was a flight navigator pilot in the navy and flew a plane named the A6 Intruder. The A6 Intruder was a two seat plane side by side.

Depiction of an A-6 Intruder jet my grandfather flew

He was in charge of all the navigation and all of the armaments which had to do with the guns, bombs, missiles,

death charges, mines, and mines to call on. He would fly off of an aircraft carrier the whole time he was in war which was during his junior year of college

Navy photo of my grandfather as a Lieutenant after returning from Vietnam

During his time on the carrier, he had a job to help bring food over from a replenishment ship that came up right next to him and his crew mates. So a bunch of them got together, and whenever they found food that they really liked, they formed a little line that went right down to where they all stayed.

An aircraft carrier that my grandfather spent a year on at sea

They all got some of the best food out of that hole that went right into their quarters. Then one day, the captain of the ship came down a few days later, and he had heard what went on but didn't say anything. This was until he was in their compartment talking to them, he said, "you know, you guys really have it. You do it right. This place smells so good. It smells just like oranges," suggesting that he knew what went on there.

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