The National Press Club

08/07/2022 | News release | Distributed by Public on 08/07/2022 14:08

Tom Young, author and combat flight veteran, takes command of Club's American Legion Post 20

Tom Young, author, commercial airline pilot and retired Air National Guard flight engineer, was elected commander of the National Press Club's American Legion Post 20 at its annual election of officers in June.

Young, an 11-year member of the Club and former Newsmaker Committee member now serving on the Broadcast Committee, succeeds Jim Noone, who served as commander for five years.

Other officers elected are Brian Gray and Kevin Wensing, first and second vice commanders, respectively; Dick Thompson, adjutant; Evelyn Moy, sergeant-at-arms; KenDalecki, membership; Myron Belkind, finance officer and and Easter Thompson, historian.

Young served in Afghanistan and Iraq, flew combat missions in Bosnia and Kosovo plus flights to Latin America, Africa and Asia on C-5 and C-130 cargo planes. His decorations include three Air and three Aerial Achievement Medals earned during 20 years serve before retiring as a senior master sergeant.

Young spent 10 years as a writer and editor with the Associated Press broadcast division and currently is a commercial airline captain based at Reagan National Airport. A native of North Carolina, Young has a B.A. and an M.A. in mass communications from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

His novels include Silver Wings, Iron Cross;The Mullah's Storm;Silent Enemy;The Warriors; Sand and Fire; and The Hunters. His books have received high praise and starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and other publications. His nonfiction works include The Speed of Heat: An Airlift Wing at War in Iraq and Afghanistan. His narrative, "Night Flight to Baghdad," appeared in the anthology Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families.

Post 20, which has some 70 members, is one of the oldest in the Legion and was founded at the urging of Gen. John J. Pershing, an associate member of the Club, shortly after World War I. Congressionally approved changes to the Legion charter have opened membership to all veterans, regardless of whether they served during periods of declared conflicts.