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.
