5A SWL 1972 Libya

The card is from 1972 and QSL shows " Ham operations prohibited in Libya"

Lt. Col. Thomas F. Gannon, U.S. Air Force (ret.), age 92, of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., passed away on Jan. 29, 2013.

He was born on July 10, 1920, to Thomas F. and Ursula C. Gannon in Dover, N.J.

He was a flight navigator over a 35 year period, and flew combat in WWII and Korea. He was shot down in WWII, and became a prisoner-of-war in Germany for 15 months. He spent 22 years in the U.S. Air Force, and retired in 1964. After obtaining his FAA Navigator license, he flew with International Air Bahama Air Lines over the Atlantic then Braniff International Airlines over the Pacific. When the airlines became computerized, he joined Lockheed International, and flew as C-130 instructor navigator with the Libyan Air Force, in Tripoli, Libya, over a five-year period. While there, He met his future wife, Kathleen, and they were married after returning to Fort Walton Beach.

As a Master Navigator, He was always interested in the Earhart disappearance, together with Tom Willi, a retired Navy Commander; they replotted her flight, and came up with the probable crash sight. They recruited Tighar, an aircraft search organization, to do the search. After a total of 6 searches at the same island, enough evidence was found to convince all concerned that this was indeed the actual island where Earhart's flight ended.

QSL EA5BM Collection
Info courtesy of N2BTD