Gary Marquis

We thank you for your service Tom Garrison, may you RIP.Gary Marquis US Navy Veteran 65 75..

Rosemary Galanda (Jenkins)

I am so upset over the passing of Thomas.  It is especially painful to know that the root cause was Agent Orange.  Personally, I have boycotted Dow Chemical since the Viet Nam War because that is the company that manufactured this atrocious chemical.  Used during war time, its use results in one of the most excruciating ways to die.

Bless you, Thomas Garrison!

William Raines

An picture of Tom was as a Boy Scout in Troop 728; see THS Home page pictures. We will miss him

Ronald Thomson

Tom was a thoughtful and generous man who left us too early. I'm going to miss him.

Rick Adams

Tom, you will be missed my old friend !  For those of us that knew Tom Garrison or " Tommy" as he was known at Fern Greenwood know we lost a very special friend.  Tom and I shared some great moments growing up.  We went from Kindergarten through 12th grade together.  We played Pony league baseball together . He was my pitcher and I was his catcher for two years.

In the last few years at reunions I took great enjoyment seeing and talking over old times with him.  We shared our Army experiences with each other.

God Speed Tommy Garrison

Rick

Miles Sumner

. . . I hesitate to comment because I don't remember Tom. However I do remember Combat in Vietnam. Many of us in the class of '65 got the opportunity to experience Vietnam. I too was in the Army. My MOS kept me moving around that country via aircraft, especially helicopter. 

Agent Orange/dioxin arrived by the shipload and was handled by military members of all branches of the services, even the Vietnamese civilians. The chemical was disbursed by 'copter to kill all the vegetation where the bad guys could hide; search & destroy troops would wade through the goo. Large areas of jungle were defolliated and the rotting mess was cleared, often by hand to make camps where we'd  live for extended periods with piles of contaminated debris circling the perimeter..

President Kennedy authorized its use. Monsanto - the same company that is currently winning its litigation to eliminate labeling Genetically Modified products - was a major supplier of the chemical.

Very few - only several hundred - US Vietnam Veterans were ever given any compensation or treatment by the VA for exposure toAgent Orange; civil suits resulted in out-of-court settlements payments of $12,000 spread out over 10 years.

Tom, I hope you didn't suffer and that you are in a better place. You've been taken from your loved ones at a time when you could be enjoying your retirement. 

RIP