Veterans' Memorial Project

Thomas Flagg Koritz

Rochelle, IL

Liberation and Defense of Kuwait

Major Koritz served with the 04/US Air Force, 335th Tactical Fighter Squadron. He was based at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, North Carolina. When his squadron shipped out to Saudi Arabia, Koritz, a pilot and Air Force flight surgeon, was assigned to fly an F15E fighter/bomber. Koritz and his weapons/systems officer, Lt. Col. Donnie R. Holland, participated in the first wave of attacks on Iraqi military targets on January 16, 1991. Holland had been in the Air Force for 17 years, but this was the first combat mission he had flown. Three hours after the aircraft in the first wave returned to base, Holland and Koritz had not returned and they were listed as missing in action. Major Koritz was originally listed as Missing in Action at the time of the incident, but as of 2002 his status was changed to Killed in Action/Body Recovered. MEMORIALS to Major Koritz: Atwood Park (Northwest Illinois) Veterans Memorials honored him with the Major Thomas Koritz Memorial for his ultimate sacrifice made in Desert Storm. The local war memorials are one of a kind as they are the only War Memorials built in the United States by youth, in this case local Boy Scouts. Also, the 4th Medical Group Hospital was redesignated the Thomas Koritz Hospital on August 6, 1993, by Special Order G-0042. Major Koritz was working at the 4th Medical Group and was one of five Air Force pilot-physicians at the time of his death.

-taken from Web sites below and Alumni Association records

Further information: https://www.pownetwork.org/gulf/kd015.htm