Airman’s decades-old sacrifice at Tinker lives on as example to all Published March 27, 2009 By Dr. James L. Crowder Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center Historian TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., -- Accolades flowed recently following the dramatic landing of a commercial airliner in the Hudson River. US Airways pilot Chesley Sullenberger received nationwide admiration for his steady skill that led to the successful rescue of all passengers, without a single loss of life to those living on both sides of the emergency landing surface. The events echo a similar story that occurred in September 1962 when an Air Force pilot taking off from Tinker Air Force Base showed not only his piloting skills and true character, but also paid the supreme sacrifice so those on the ground might live. Maj. Thomas J. Deegan, 37, and Airman 1st Class Bobbie L. Rolland, 25, both assigned to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., had just refueled their B-57 Canberra and lifted off the Tinker north-south runway when the pilot radioed the control tower that he was "having difficulty with the engines." Dr. Thomas Dunn, spending part of his Sunday morning working in his backyard, looked up when he heard a plane that "didn't sound right" and then watched it bank sharply away from a housing development, twist into a dive and slam behind his horizon. Instead of saving his own life by ejecting from the crippled aircraft, the pilot had gone down with the plane, ensuring the safety of everyone in the houses all around them. Along the tragic flight path were houses, a shopping complex and a school. Later, an investigator said the pilot did "a fantastic job steering" the damaged two-engine aircraft to an open area in the neighborhood and into a 500-yard field between occupied houses. Mr. and Mrs. B.W. Guest lived in the house at 212 N. Douglas Boulevard and felt the house shake when the plane came over at such a low altitude. Almost immediately the muffled explosion shook the ground and they ran to the back door to see flames billowing high. Bob Canny, who lived at 237 Blake Drive, on the other side of the open field, initially heard the sounds of a flight in distress and looked up to see Airman Rolland ejecting from the aircraft just 75 feet off the ground. However, Canny could see that Airman Rolland's parachute didn't fully open. Canny could not get near the wreckage due to the intense inferno. Sergeant Mike Bortay, a security guard at Tinker, was the first person to get to Airman Rolland who was then just barely breathing. He died a short time later. Major Deegan, a native of Attleboro, Mass., and an 18-year veteran of the Air Force, left behind a wife and eight children. Airman Rolland, of Rossville, Ga., left a wife and two children. While everyone quickly realized the heroic nature of the Air Force pilot's decision to put aside his own safety in order to save others, the nearby Shawnee News-Star published an especially poignant editorial which said Major Deegan's act responded to the recent declaration of Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev that Americans didn't have the will to fight and sacrifice anymore. But they did and they still do. The widow of Major Deegan and all of his children now live in Arizona. Daughter Maureen Deegan was only 8 years old at the time of her father's death. While she carries the pride in her father well, she admits, "...one never gets over the loss." Likewise, we should never get over the sacrifice.