Vito Tomasino

 

Preferred Name: Vito
Nickname/Call Sign: 
Date Of Birth: December 22, 1933
Highest Military Grade Held: Major, O4
Hometown: North Bellmore, NY

Biography

Sabre and I stood watch in countries around the world to insure that the “Cold War” remained so. We sat patiently on a crowded Homestead tarmac, armed and ready to strike Russian missile sites in Cuba—my wife’s homeland. I flew over one hundred missions in Vietnam, earning five Air Medals and two Distinguished Flying Crosses. But it was in another time, during another war, that a young marine would decide the future course of his life. As I watched the sleek Panther jets swoop low over a scarred Korean landscape, I knew it was to be up there… with them See Vito’s blog at Https://www.kracek.com

Units Assigned

  • 1953-1955 United States Marine Corps
  • 7/1953 -10/1954 Korea, 1st Marine Division – Infantry Squad Leader
  • 1956-1957 Aviation Cadet Class 57Q/R, Stallings AB, NC T-34, T-28, Greenville, Mississippi T-33
  • 1957 Advanced Fighter Training, Luke AFB F-84F
  • 1957-1958 Advanced Fighter Training, Nellis AFB F-100A/F
  • 1958-1960 494th FBS, 48th FBW, Chaumont, France F-100D/F
  • 1960-1961 494th FBS, 48th FBW, Lakenheath, UK F-100D/F
  • 1961-1968 474th TFW & 27TH TFW, Cannon AFB, NM F-100D/F Flew with: 428th, 429th, 522nd
  • 1964 1st ARVN Regiment, SVN – ALO/FAC O1E
  • 1965 429TFS, Bien Hoa, SVN – Fighter Weapons Officer F-100D/F
  • 1968-1970 Royal Libyan Air Force, Wheelus AB, Libya F-5A, F-100C
  • 1970-1971 USAFE Command Post, Wiesbaden, Germany – T-39
  • 1971-1972 DASC, Camp Red Cloud, Korea – Fighter Duty Officer
  • 1972-1974 Cannon Air Force Base, NM – Director Weapons Tactics F-111D
  • 1974-1978 McClelland AFB, CA – Flight Test F-100, F111 (all models)

Awards & Decorations

Air Medal (5)
Distinguished Flying Cross (2)

Flight Info

T-33
T-28
F-84 F
F-100 A/C/D/F
O1 E
F-5 A
T-39
F-111 All models

Military Education

  • 4/1962 Air to Ground Operations School
  • 1/1964 Airborne Parachutist Course
  • 5/1965 USAF Fighter Weapons School
  • 1973-1974 ICAF, ACSC, SOS

Civilian Education

  • 1973 BA Business Management, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE
  • 1983 BA Economics/MA International Affairs, California State University, CA

Front CoverThere are many books about flying, but perhaps none that so inspire each of us to pursue our individual voyages of discovery as Sabre the Journey. Its unique combination of photography, poetry, and prose virtually lifts the reader into the cockpit of fighter aircraft, to see and experience the world through the pilot’s eyes. More than a celebration of flight, Sabre’s message is universal in its appeal. It touches upon a basic human need to know, to look beyond the next horizon…to reach a place we have not yet been.   Front CoverFor heroism beyond the call, Captain Viktor Kracek was ordered back to Washington to be honored by the President before a Joint Session of Congress. In a searing speech before that war-divided body, he proved himself as courageous in the political arena as he is on the battlefield. Meanwhile, events were unfolding on the other side of the world that would cut short his triumphant stateside visit. His commander, Lt. Colonel William T. Whitfield, the legendary fighter ace of World War II and Korea was captured by the Vietcong, and he had to be a part of the rescue effort. The operation was going as planned until a little boy, watching the hut in which his father killers were being held, alerted the guerilla leader…  

Biography

Biography

Sabre and I stood watch in countries around the world to insure that the “Cold War” remained so. We sat patiently on a crowded Homestead tarmac, armed and ready to strike Russian missile sites in Cuba—my wife’s homeland. I flew over one hundred missions in Vietnam, earning five Air Medals and two Distinguished Flying Crosses. But it was in another time, during another war, that a young marine would decide the future course of his life. As I watched the sleek Panther jets swoop low over a scarred Korean landscape, I knew it was to be up there… with them See Vito’s blog at Https://www.kracek.com

Units - Education - Awards - Flight Info

Units Assigned

  • 1953-1955 United States Marine Corps
  • 7/1953 -10/1954 Korea, 1st Marine Division – Infantry Squad Leader
  • 1956-1957 Aviation Cadet Class 57Q/R, Stallings AB, NC T-34, T-28, Greenville, Mississippi T-33
  • 1957 Advanced Fighter Training, Luke AFB F-84F
  • 1957-1958 Advanced Fighter Training, Nellis AFB F-100A/F
  • 1958-1960 494th FBS, 48th FBW, Chaumont, France F-100D/F
  • 1960-1961 494th FBS, 48th FBW, Lakenheath, UK F-100D/F
  • 1961-1968 474th TFW & 27TH TFW, Cannon AFB, NM F-100D/F Flew with: 428th, 429th, 522nd
  • 1964 1st ARVN Regiment, SVN – ALO/FAC O1E
  • 1965 429TFS, Bien Hoa, SVN – Fighter Weapons Officer F-100D/F
  • 1968-1970 Royal Libyan Air Force, Wheelus AB, Libya F-5A, F-100C
  • 1970-1971 USAFE Command Post, Wiesbaden, Germany – T-39
  • 1971-1972 DASC, Camp Red Cloud, Korea – Fighter Duty Officer
  • 1972-1974 Cannon Air Force Base, NM – Director Weapons Tactics F-111D
  • 1974-1978 McClelland AFB, CA – Flight Test F-100, F111 (all models)

Awards & Decorations

Air Medal (5)
Distinguished Flying Cross (2)

Flight Info

T-33
T-28
F-84 F
F-100 A/C/D/F
O1 E
F-5 A
T-39
F-111 All models

Military Education

  • 4/1962 Air to Ground Operations School
  • 1/1964 Airborne Parachutist Course
  • 5/1965 USAF Fighter Weapons School
  • 1973-1974 ICAF, ACSC, SOS

Civilian Education

  • 1973 BA Business Management, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE
  • 1983 BA Economics/MA International Affairs, California State University, CA
Images
Video
Books by Vito Tomasino

Front CoverThere are many books about flying, but perhaps none that so inspire each of us to pursue our individual voyages of discovery as Sabre the Journey. Its unique combination of photography, poetry, and prose virtually lifts the reader into the cockpit of fighter aircraft, to see and experience the world through the pilot’s eyes. More than a celebration of flight, Sabre’s message is universal in its appeal. It touches upon a basic human need to know, to look beyond the next horizon…to reach a place we have not yet been.   Front CoverFor heroism beyond the call, Captain Viktor Kracek was ordered back to Washington to be honored by the President before a Joint Session of Congress. In a searing speech before that war-divided body, he proved himself as courageous in the political arena as he is on the battlefield. Meanwhile, events were unfolding on the other side of the world that would cut short his triumphant stateside visit. His commander, Lt. Colonel William T. Whitfield, the legendary fighter ace of World War II and Korea was captured by the Vietcong, and he had to be a part of the rescue effort. The operation was going as planned until a little boy, watching the hut in which his father killers were being held, alerted the guerilla leader…  

Scroll to Top