Thomas C. Haywood was born September 13, 1917 and grew up in St. Paul Minnesota. He attended the University of Minnesota before joining the U.S. Marine Corps, and by July 1940, he received his wings and commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. By the summer of 1941, he joined the AVG as a Flight Leader. He participated in the first massive air battles over Rangoon, Burma in December 1941 and flew combat thereafter in Burma and China.
He returned to the US in July 1942 after the AVG disbanded and flew as captain for Consairway Airlines ferrying B-24s between the US and Australia.
By 1945 he was back with Robert Prescott and became an original investor in the new venture which was to become the Flying Tiger Line. He continued to fly for Flying Tigers for the next 15 years until a major heart attack ended his flying career. That didn’t stop him, though, as he continued to work for another 13 years or so, until 1973 in flight operations and later ground training
Tommy Haywood died on April 28, 1979 in Inglewood, CA after a long illness. He was only 61.