DWYER, Charles Thomas (Tom)

Vistoso Funeral Home, Oro Valley, Arizona Charles Thomas Dwyer September 19, 1925 ~ December 16, 2012 Tom was born in Syracuse, New York on September 19, 1927 as one of eight children of an Irish Catholic family. He attended St. Lucy’s Catholic High School. In April of 1945, at the age of seventeen, he enlisted in the United States Navy. He was immediately deployed to the South Pacific Islands of Saipan and Guam as a Seabee assigned to CBU 144 building airstrips for the Army Air Corp’s B-29 bombers. In August 1945, he was assigned to a troop ship sailing for Japan as part of the invasion force. Fortunately, the Pacific war officially ended on September 2, 1945. After the war, he returned to Syracuse NY in late 1946 to finish his high school education. Later he married his high school sweetheart Patricia Ann Kinane on December 9th, 1950. His first child (Mark Thomas) was born in December 1951 while he was deployed on the aircraft carrier USS Midway CVA-41 during the Korean Conflict. In 1955, his second child (Thomas Patrick) was born and 1958 brought the 3rd child (Colleen Kelly) and his 4th and final child (Marybeth Ann) arrived in 1961. In early 1960’s, he was assigned to the USS Enterprise CVAN-65 the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier in the world and the largest military naval vessel built at that time. He was part of the original crew thus a Plank Owner. In October 1962, the USS Enterprise was deployed to the waters off of the coast of Cuba as one of the many naval combat vessels assigned to the Blockade. From 1964 to 1967, his military assignment took him to White Sands Missile Range in Las Cruces, New Mexico where they developed missiles for the military. Late in 1967, he was assigned to combat stations in Da Nang and Chu Lai in the Republic of South Vietnam. After 13 months of combat duty, he was redeployed to the Naval Base in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1970, he was transferred to Naval Air Station, Alameda, CA as part of the Seabees: CBU 409. In 1971, he was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS America CVA-66 that was on combat duty in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of the Republic of South Vietnam. Tom retired from active duty in 1972 and worked the next ten years in the civilian life assisting the US Navy at NAS Alameda. October of 1993, his wife (Patricia Ann) of 43 years died of lung cancer. After her death, Tom moved to Tucson, AZ where he lived with his son (Tommy) until the year 2000 after which he moved to Saddlebrook. During his tenure in Arizona, Tom enjoyed the mountains, his family and many friends. He lived a full life and he saw the wonders and mysteries of the world. He did it all...