<p>
The arrival at West Point of <em>Thomas Jonathan Jackson Christian, Jr.</em>—”Jack” to all who knew him—in July 1935 was heralded by an article in Time magazine of 11 March of that year. It told that he had opened an envelope from the War Department and read of his selection for appointment as a cadet, and continued, “Great was the pride of handsome, serious-minded Cadet-select Thomas Jonathan Jackson Christian, Jr., son of a West Pointer (1911) now attached to the War College, and only living great-grandson of one of the Military Academy’s most famed graduates, Thomas Jonathan (‘Stonewall’) Jackson, Lieutenant General, Confederate States Army (West Point Class of 1846).”</p>
<p>
“Let’s have it, Mr. Christian,” the Beast Detail would order, and Jack— with the grace and equanimity that were his hallmark—would begin, “Handsome, serious-minded Cadet-select …”</p>
<p>
Quickly, as the weeks and months went on, he showed himself to be an outstanding cadet in every phase of cadet life, being selected in Yearling Summer Camp to serve as acting regimental supply officer. No less human than his classmates, he spent a part of that period of prestigious appointment in “con” to work off several excess demerits that he (like they) had brought to Summer Camp. Designation to the regimental staff as regimental supply sergeant second class year and finally regimental supply officer first class year simply confirmed the leadership potential evident in him from the outset.</p>
<p>
Academics held no terrors for him, graduating 65th in a class of456. He had attended the University of Chicago before entering West Point. Athletically, polo was his enduring love, and his varsity participation was a constant source of well-earned pride and personal enjoyment. But there were other things, too—character that rubbed off on all who knew him, a quick sense of humor, an easy grace with the ladies, even a “touch of elegance” that earned the regard in which his classmates held him— a warm regard that could still be deeply felt five decades later, at the 50<sup>th</sup> reunion of the Class in 1989.</p>
<p>
On graduation he chose the Field Artillery, his father s branch, but soon sought and obtained detail in the Air Corps. Following primary training at Love Field, advanced training at Kelly Field and service as an instructor at Randolph Field in 1940 and 1941, he was assigned to the Philippines in April 1941 and was at Clark Field as a B-17 pilot when the Japanese attacked in December. According to news accounts, he moved with other surviving personnel to Bataan on Christmas Eve and a week later went with the 19th Bomb Group to Mindanao where he and other airmen served as infantry until flown out to Australia. There he transferred to pursuit flying and fought for seven months. He arrived with the 1st Air Group at Guadalcanal on 15 August 1942 and for many weeks bombed and strafed the Japanese, flying more than 60 hours in combat in the area. During this period he was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action.</p>
<p>
He returned to the United States in November 1942 and on 2 January 1943 married Marjorie Lou Ashcroft, a lovely young lady he had met during his service at Love Field more than two years before. Several classmates participated in the wedding—Perry Hoisington as the best man, and Jack Samuel and Jimmy Knapp as ushers.</p>
<p>
He formed and trained the 361st Fighter Group in the States, and took it to England in November 1943. During the months that followed he flew more than 70 combat missions, receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters and the Purple Heart. He was promoted to colonel in March 1944.</p>
<p>
He named each of his fighter planes for Lou, the daughter he never knew, who was born in January 1944, and was flying Lou IV, a P-51, on 12 August 1944 when he was killed in action at Arras, France. He was last seen diving on a target, and was then lost to sight shortly before a heavy explosion occurred in the target area.</p>
<p>
Jack’s name is listed on the Tablets of the Missing at the U.S. Military Cemetery at Ardennes in Belgium. He is remembered in Bottisham, a Cambridgeshire village in England where his fighter group was stationed, by a street named in his honor. His daughter Lou attended the ceremony in 1988 at Bottisham that paid tribute to this gifted leader, devoted husband and father, and dear friend.</p>
<p>
<em>A.J.G.—classmate and roommate</em></p>