Published in the November 30, 2016 edition
U.S. NAVY VETERAN Tom Tully proudly displays an award and pin he received from The Association of the First Corps of Cadet. Tully was recognized by the organization after serving two tours during the Vietnam War. (Dan Tomasello Photo)
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD —Tom Tully has dedicated his life to giving back to his country as a U.S. Navy veteran and as a firefighter.
The Association of the First Corps of Cadets, a private, nonprofit organization that supports its active military unit, the Massachusetts Army National Guard’s 211th Military Police Battalion, recognized Tully for his service to his country last month.
Local resident and dear friend Gill Giugliano presented Tully, 21 Midland Rd., a custom engraved granite award, certificate and pin during the ceremony.
“It’s just overwhelming,” said Tully. “It took 46 years and it’s unbelievable. The first person to thank me for my service was my wife Laura and we got married 15 years ago. And the second thank you I got was the Corps of Cadets when they presented me this award. It was a bad time back in the 1970s and nobody would thank a veteran. They just wanted to forget about what was going on. I served four years and I did the right thing at the time, which is serve my country.”
Laura Tully said the award was “quite an honor.”
Tully was born in Melrose and raised in Malden. He graduated from Malden Vocational High School in 1968 and was the vice president of his class. After graduating from high school, Tully attended the Northeast Institute of Technology on Beacon Hill.
In September 1969, Tully decided to enlist in the United States Navy. He completed his basic training at Naval Station Great Lakes, which is located near North Chicago. Tully competed his AIT training at the Philadelphia Naval Yard in damage control and nuclear, biological and chemical warfare. He was deployed to Vietnam in 1970 and was stationed at a Naval repair base in Da Nang.
While stationed in Da Nang, Tully’s unit was engaged in combat and was hit by enemy missiles and mortars nightly. After Tully’s tour came to an end, he returned home and briefly stayed in San Diego, Calif.
“I went home for a short time and I was deployed six months later,” said Tully.
Tully began his second tour of Vietnam in 1971. He was stationed on a Navy ship, USS Bradley DE-1041, as a damage control specialist. The ship patrolled the Gulf of Tonkin, located on the North Vietnam coast and provided fire control support.
“I was on a destroyer escort and was on fire escort duty,” said Tully. “I would communicate with land bases and would shoot into an area to give them fire support with five inch guns that would shoot roughly nine miles. It was part of the demilitarized zone that separated North and South Vietnam, but we would go up and down the coast.”
In 1972, Tully was deployed to Newport, R.I. and was stationed on the USS Grand Canyon AR28, a Navy repair ship. He was promoted to Petty Officer Second Class.
“I was in charge of a welding shop on the repair ship,” said Tully.
While Tully was stationed in Newport, he suffered a major back injury after a pile of steel fell on top of him.
“I was in the hospital for three months,” said Tully.
Tully was discharged as a disabled veteran in September 1973. He received the Navy Good Conduct, National Defense, Vietnam Service, Vietnam Campaign, Navy Combat Service, American Defense, Overseas Service, Sea Service and Honorable Discharge medals.
“I was three days shy of completing four years in the Navy,” said Tully.
When asked what he learned from his experience serving in Vietnam as a member of the U.S. Navy, Tully commented, “It was an honor to serve and its great to be an American.”
The mild mannered Navy veteran continued serving his country after he became a Malden firefighter in 1974. He rose up the ranks and became a captain in the fire alarm division and served as an EMT. He worked as a firefighter for 36 years.
“Tom saved many lives while he worked for the Malden Fire Department,” said Laura Tully.
When asked how his experience in the Navy and serving in the Vietnam War prepared him to become a firefighter, Tully commented, “you are always around danger and things happen that you don’t expect.”
“You see the good and bad in life,” added Tully. “You look at things in a different prospective. The background I had in the military helped prepare me for being a firefighter because the military is structured and the fire department is structured.”
Tully said he decided to enlist in the U.S. Navy and become a firefighter because of his family. His father, Joe, was a Navy Seabee in Guadalcanal in World War II and was a Petty Officer Second Class. Joe also worked for the Malden Fire Department.
“My father was killed when I was 9 years old,” said Tully. “From different things I have seen and heard from my family, I decided to follow in my father’s footsteps. My uncle was also in the Navy during World War II. He was in PT boat 112, which was in the area as PT boat 109, which was President Kennedy’s boat.”
Tom and Laura got married in April 2002 and have lived in town for the past 15 years. The couple has two children and eight grandchildren. He has been a member of the honor guard during the Veterans’ Day ceremony and has marched in the Memorial Day parade.
“I been involved in the ceremonies for a number of years and I used to belong to the VFW,” said Tully. “I was in the Rotary Club for a number of years. I used to be at every Concert on the Common and every function they had. I met a lot of good people in Rotary.”
Tully is also a member of Box 52, an organization dedicated to fire prevention and extinguishment in the Boston area.
