John Thomas Wise, 75, of Beaumont, died Wednesday,
March 4, 2015. He was born on September 12, 1939, in Woodville, to Ora Mae
Spinks Wise and John Q. Wise.
In 1957 John Wise joined the United States Navy at
age seventeen. After basic training he was selected to go to Communications
Technician School where he was branched as a CTO, or Communications Technician
Operator, meaning that he was trained to operate teletype machines to send
secure messages between various Naval Security Group sites. While in training he was given the Foreign
Language Aptitude Test. And the Navy
discovered he had an ability to learn new languages so initially he was sent to
learn Vietnamese. After completing this
training his first duty station was the Naval Radio Facility, Philippines.
After completing his tour in the Philippines, John
returned to language school, this time to study Russian. Upon completion of a
year of study, he was assigned to the Naval Security Group in Japan. After three weeks of training and
transcribing, he was put on flight status and began flying missions with Fleet Air
Reconnaissance Squadron ONE (VQ-1), flying in the EC-121M aircraft, a modified
version of the Lockheed Super Constellation.
In late 1962, John volunteered for submarine duty. Initially,
John was assigned to the USS Tunny (SSG-282), a guided missile submarine. John
made three patrols on the Tunny and in 1964 he was able to qualify in
submarines, earning his enlisted submarine pin or ‘dolphins’. In 1965 John was back on flight duty with
VQ-1, and during this tour he was able to qualify as a
Naval Air crewman and was awarded his wings.
During the next two years he spent time in and out
of Vietnam, and was awarded the Strike/Flight Air Medal while flying with VQ-1
from Da Nang, additionally he was awarded the Republic of Vietnam Meritorious
Unit Commendation, Republic of Philippines Presidential Unit Citation and the
Navy Expeditionary Medal. In 1967 after
being selected and promoted to Warrant Officer John was stationed at Goodfellow
Air Force Base in San Angelo, TX. There
he served as the Assistant Officer in Charge of the Naval Security Group's crypto
logic school.
In October of 1969 John was promoted to Chief
Warrant Officer (W-2) and served a third tour in Vietnam. After the Vietnam War
concluded, John spent time in California helping to develop a new electronic
system for installation in the Navy’s EP-3E aircraft.
John was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer (W-4) in
June 1977, about the time he was reassigned to the Naval Security Group
Activity at Fort Meade, Maryland, collocated with the National Security Agency.
This was his final tour of duty, and he retired in September 1979 with
twenty-two years of service.
He is survived by his wife, Shirley Ann Wise of
Beaumont; sons, John David Wise and James Lee Wise and his wife, Kenna, all of
Nederland; step daughter, Cynthia Summers and her husband, Jason, of Beaumont;
step son, Robert Simpson of Kansas; half sister, Nadean Peck of Tulsa,
Oklahoma; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
A gathering of Mr. Wise’s family and friends will be
5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m., Thursday, March 12, 2015, at Broussard’s, 2000
McFaddin Avenue, Beaumont. His funeral service will be 2:00 p.m., Friday, March
13, 2015. Mr. Wise will be laid to rest at sea on a later date.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be
made to Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, Kansas 66675.
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