John F. Groom Served as adviser to Gen. William Westmoreland during Vietnam War
Retired Air Force Col. John F. Groom, who commanded the Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team at Nellis Air Force Base in 1962 and later served as an airstrike adviser to Army Gen. William Westmoreland in Vietnam, died Tuesday in Las Vegas. He was 87.
One of his sons, John Groom Jr. of Las Vegas, said his father died at University Medical Center of complications from a stroke. He had lived in Las Vegas for 15 years.
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"He was an avid historian. He loved to read American history," John Groom Jr. said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
He said his father will be buried Aug. 8 in Arlington National Cemetery at Fort Myer, Va., but a memorial service will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Summerlin.
While at Nellis, Colonel Groom commanded the Thunderbirds when the team flew supersonic F-100 Super Sabres. The team performed in Central America and South America as well as in the United States.
John Groom Jr. said his father was in training during World War II and flew B-29s in the Korean War. "I guess the height of his career was really in Vietnam," he said.
In 1965, Groom served as director of inland airstrikes under an effort code-named Tiger Hound. He reported directly to Westmoreland.
Later, he attended the National War College at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. He went on to become the last commander of Wheelus Air Base in Tripoli, Libya, just before the closure of the base in 1970, a year after Moammar Kadafi led a coup against the country's monarchy.
He was a key player in the evacuation of Tripoli and was responsible for getting U.S. citizens out of the city.
Groom was born Aug. 21, 1918, in Rochester, N.Y. He earned a bachelor's degree from Brockport State University and attended Syracuse Law School. He completed his law degree from Western Law School in San Diego after he retired from the military.
Before his military career, he had worked as an FBI agent.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara Groom of Las Vegas; sons, John Jr. of Las Vegas and Tom Groom of The Woodlands, Texas; four grandchildren; and five great grandchildren.
