Coronado Native Celebrates With The City

Tom Rice turned 100 years old on Sunday, August 15. Not one to settle for a boring birthday party, he celebrated the day by jumping out of the Commemorative Air Force's C-53 D-Day Doll assigned to the Inland Empire Wing based in Riverside, California.

“I think the whole city of Coranado was there,” Rice said. “It was a happy day.” Rice was born and raised in Coronado, and still lives in the same house. 

Rice was joined by a large crowd and fellow D-Day veteran, 97-year-old Dan McBride.

D-Day Doll flew in three missions on June 6, 1944 and the next day. It also flew in support missions and wounded evacuations to England.

Rice joined the service in 1943, and was a paratrooper in WWII. As a self described risk-taker, he volunteered to join the airborne paratrooper school after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He welcomed the challenge, despite the dangers and uncertainties at the time with the untested new unit.

After excruciating training, he went on to become a member of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, C Company. Rice parachuted in Normandy on D-Day, leading 18 paratroopers. He also Joined in the Capture Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in Berchtesgaden, Germany.

After the war, Rice became a teacher of high school and junior college social studies, a position he held for more than 44 years. At 98, Rice jumped into Normandy one last time, landing near the same place he did 75 years prior. Rice dedicated the jump to the famed 101st Airborne Division and “The 4 Colonels of Carentan.” 

FMI: www.commemorativeairforce.org