Thomas Hart “Tom” McCord was born in Tucson, AZ on March 6, 1945. His father was a P-51 pilot in World War II at the time. The family would move to Fayetteville, AR and Houston, TX before finally settling in the East Bay area of California in 1949. Tom was active in scouting in the community and would become an Eagle Scout. The McCords were a “car family” with everyone from Dad, Mom and the kids pitching in. Tom’s first car job came at age 8, when he helped his dad re-line some car brakes. One of Tom’s favorite sayings was, “The McCords and their cars were like the Indians and Buffalo—no part is ever thrown away or wasted.” His brothers still have the old car parts to prove it.
Upon graduation from Pleasant Hill High School in 1963, Tom joined the Army and attended boot camp at Fort Ord, CA and did follow-on training in Aviation Mechanics School. He entered the West Point Prep School at Fort Belvoir, VA in 1964 and joined the West Point Class of 1969 on July 1, 1965. Being a “poop” schooler, Tom was a real “spoony” new cadet and was the Best New Cadet in his company. He was often reminded of that while walking the Area as an upperclassman. He joined Company B-2 and was a loyal classmate, friend, and talented leader, as well as an enthusiastic intramural boxer and soccer player. He was a member of the Scuba Club and Class Automobile Committee. Tom was a total car “gear head” and had forgotten more about cars than anyone else knew. While the rest of his classmates were busy learning the ropes of their new cars, driving back and forth to Camp Buckner, Tom was drag racing his black and white Dodge Charger R/T at the famous Englishtown, NJ drag strip. Tom chose Field Artillery as his branch choice, hoping to go to flight school later.
In May 1970, he married his lovely wife, Laura, an Army nurse and brat and his anchor. They had a daughter and a son. He reported to the 155 SP Battalions at Fort Hood, TX and served there until going to Flight School in late 1971. After Cobra School, Tom reported to Vietnam and F Troop, 8th Cavalry, in the Bien Hoa area, where he would serve his tour. Returning to CONUS, he served in the 101st as a pilot at Fort Campbell, KY. In 1976 he left active duty; however, Tom remained active in the OKNG and CANG for the next 13 years as a pilot and retired from the Reserves in 1989 after doing his 20 years.
Tom and family moved to Tulsa, OK in 1976, where they would remain for seven years while Tom worked for Schneider Transportation, an oil drilling company, and Rockwell International on the B-1B bomber program. He also earned his MS degree in engineering management from the University of Tulsa.
Tom wanted to return to Northern California in 1983 to be near his parents and took a job at the Naval Post Graduate School (NPS) in Monterey as a laboratory manager. The family then settled in Salinas, CA. Tom was a very gifted mechanical engineer, and this new job was perfect for him. He loved to water ski and in mid-life became a cowboy for fun.
He retired from NPS in 2001 and started McCord Specialty Automotive in Salinas, where he renovated and modified hot rods and muscle cars. He never advertised, but his shop was always full, as he was well known throughout California for his work. Tom loved to work on old Camaros, Corvettes, GTOs and pre-1940 coupes. He was an active member of the Gold Coast Hot Rods Club and Cherry’s Jubilee, a popular car show, where he was the 2005 Volunteer of the Year. He also sponsored a CH-47 Chinook helicopter outfit in Afghanistan and outfitted them with McCord Specialty Automotive T-shirts. Red, white and blue ran through his veins, and he was an old school patriot.
Tom was an unforgettable character with integrity and values. A classic big brother, he was very protective and enjoyed passing on his car knowledge. A loving husband, he once tried to renovate his wife’s favorite car, a Morris Minor Traveler, until it literally fell apart in his hands from rust and dry rot. A doting father, he once dropped everything to fly to his daughter’s side to be with her while they participated for two days on the game show “Wheel of Fortune,” winning $17,000. Not known to be fleet of foot by either his family or classmates, Tom nevertheless was fast enough to run down a teenage boy peeping in his teenage daughter’s window. An ever-loyal classmate, in 2017 he remembered the middle names of all his B-2 classmates and the cars they bought at graduation. He also never forgot a promise and would show up at a classmate’s wedding years later to fulfill a promise. Forty years after graduation, he thanked a classmate for helping him out in 1969, saying they were even now.
Tom passed on July 26, 2017 in Salinas, and he was inurned at Fort Ord. His final services were fitting, with scores of military veterans, members of four West Point Classes and California Hot Rod enthusiasts in attendance with their shiny hot rods parked outside in the California sun. Tom was a true son, brother, gentleman, husband, father, friend, West Point classmate, car “gear head,” and California man.