2nd LT Thomas Couch was a pilot with the 12th Air Force; 57th Bombardment Wing; 321st Bombardment Group; 445th Bombardment Squadron; and stationed in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, (MTO).

2nd LT Thomas Couch had completed 22 Combat Missions; was transferred to the 12th Air Force Headquarters for Detached Service as a Pilot of a Transport plane. On 06 December 1944, while Piloting a transport plane, carrying high ranking officials, the plane crashed near Pisa, Italy.

Sacramento Bee
Sacramento, California
Wednesday, 03 January 1945
Page 4

LIEUT. THOMAS COUCH IS KILLED IN ACTION
Word was received by Mrs. June Couch, 1300 Thirty
Seventh Street, that her husband, Second Lieutenant
Thomas Couch, Jr., 23, was killed in action on the
Italiam Front.

Lieutenant Couch, who had been awarded the air medal
with five oak leaf clusters, and a presidential citation,
was a pilot in the army air forces.

In a letter dated December 5th, he had told his wife
he was being relieved of combat duty for six weeks to
serve as the pilot of a transport. He had completed
22 missions as first pilot of a B-25. Although no
details of his death wee given in the war department
communication to Mrs. Couch, it is presumed he was on
a transport mission when he was killed.

The war department notice apparently was delayed in
reaching Mrs. Couch. She received a letter of condolence
last Thursday from a friend in the East.

Couch was the son of Thomas Couch, of Palo Alto, and Mrs.
Gwendolyn B. Couch, of 2618 Capitol Avenue, Sacramento.
He is also survived by a sister, Gwendolyn, at the
Capitol Avenue address.

He was the grandson of the late Thomas Couch, early day
gold dredge engineer in the Oroville, Butte County area,
and of the late Henry Nelson Black, Great Falls, Montana
architect.

He attended the Sacramento schools and was president of
the Sacramento High School student body in 1939. Before
joining the Air Corps, he attended the University of
California, where he was a member of the track team,
and of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity. He was married November
13, 1943, in Hemet. His wife is the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. W. George Spilman, of 1300 Thirty Seventh Street.

An official air force announcement in November stated the
B-25 Mitchell Bomber Group in the Mediterranean Theater,
of which Lieutenant Couch was a member, set an air force
record for bombing accuracy during September. The average
was 90.4 hits in the target circle.

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Sacramento Bee
Sacramento, California
Thursday, 03 March 1949
Page 4

THOMAS COUCH, JR.
Private services will be held Saturday in the
East Lawn Chapel for Second Lieutenant Thomas
Couch, Jr., who was killed in an airplane
accident while piloting high government officials,
December 06, 1944, near Pisa, Italy. He was 23.

Bishop Noel Porter of the Episcopal Church will
preside.

Lieutenant Couch was the son of Mrs. Gwendolyn
B. Couch, of 130 Forty Third Street, a decorator
and home furnishings department employee at
Breuners. His father was the late Thomas Couch,
Sr. of Montana, who managed the Couch estate there
and in California.

He was a Pilot of the 445th Bombardment Squadron,
of the 12th Air Force in the Mediterranean Theater
of Operations when the fatal accident occurred.
His outfit was based on Corsica.

He had received, before his death, the air medal
with four oak leaf clusters, and had completed
21 combat missions.

Born in Great Falls, Montana, he came to Sacramento
as a boy of 6, with his mother. He attended public
schools here and graduated from Sacramento High School.
He attended Sacramento Junior College before going
to the University of California in Berkeley.

At Sacramento High, he was student body president,
a member of Phaedo Club, and a track star. He was
a member of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity at California
and starred in track there.

He left the university as a junior early in 1943 to
enter the Army Air Corps as a flying cadet. He was
ordered overseas in August 1944.

In addition to his mother, he is survived by his sister,
Gwen Couch, who is a secretary in the governor's office
here.
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Sacramento Bee
Sacramento, California
Saturday, 20 November 1943

JUNE SPILMAN MARRIES CADET

Word was received here today of the marriage of
Miss June Spilman and Aviation Cadet Thomas Couch,
III, on November 13th, (1943), in the Chapel of
the Hemet Episcopal Church in Hemet, California.

The couple were attended by Mrs. Colvin Scott,
of Sacramento, a sister of the bride, and Captain
Horace Baum, Jr., United States Marine Corps.

Mr. Couch is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. George
Spilman, of 1300 Thirty Seventh Street. Mrs.
Gwendolyn Couch, of Sacramento is the Mother of
the bridegroom. His father is Thomas Couch, of
Palo Alto.

The junior Mrs. Couch was president of the Como
Amiga Sorority at the Sacramento Junior College.
Young Couch was the president of the student body
of Sacramento High School. he attended the University
of California at Berkley. They will reside in Hemet.
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Saramento Bee
Sacramento, California
Saturday, 22 April 1944
Page 13

LOCAL FOLK
Lieutenant Thomas Couch, Jr., who has just received
his commission at Fort Sumner, NM, is here visiting
his wife and mother, Mrs. Gwendolyn Couch, 2615
Capitol Avenue. He also will visit relatives and
friends in Palo Alto. Wednesday, the young lieutenant
will leave for Columbia Field, SC, and will be
accompanied by his wife.
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