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Oklahoma has lost a great man - Tom Dodson (Tomcat) died June 23, 2020

Started by Lomshek, June 25, 2020, 03:36:10 AM

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Lomshek

Long time shoot boss, Run 'n' gunner and veteran Tom Dodson went to his reward on June 23, 2020.



Here's an excerpt from Tom's obituary.
QuoteTom grew up in Miami Oklahoma where he enlisted in the delayed entry program into the United States Army voluntarily during the Vietnam era. He served honorably and was deployed to Korea to keep the Chinook helicopters running for battle.

In 1991 he started his own electrical contracting business after working for Miami Armature Works following his honorable discharge from the military. During the first Desert Storm conflict he enlisted in the Seebees and eventually  transitioned back into Army life.

During the mid 90s, Tom entered into civilian life again to be able to raise his daughter. He was also a fifth-degree black belt, a mentor and safety officer for the Apple Seed Project, and has bicycled over 10 100 mile bicycling events.

He even rode 65 miles on his 65th birthday last month. Tom faithfully served his community and continued running his own business until the day of his passing.

As Tom donated his body to medical research, there will only be memorial service at First Baptist Church in Miami, Oklahoma At 2 PM on Friday June 26, 2020.

Tom's only child, Jessica, posted a memorial link on Facebook where you can express your condolences to her and the family.
https://www.facebook.com/jessica.dodson/posts/10223465804050615

Anyone who knew Tom knew he was a dedicated patriot who loved this nation like no other.  He believed in the mission of Project Appleseed and gave of himself tirelessly as long as he could.

Tom mentored me through the program from a lowly orange hat to a shoot boss.  He rode me like a rented mule when I needed it but guided me to become the shoot boss I am.  He will be missed.

Here are a few more pics to acquaint you with Tom if you didn't know him.

Here he is working on a Chinook in Korea.


This was his usual run 'n' gun kit.


Here he is with a couple friends standing victoriously over some battered targets.


Here's Tom counting Red Coat hits at a 2015 shoot he bossed with me hustling as a lonely orange hat. 


A future red hat is at the far right of this photo wearing a red sweatshirt as if he already knew.

Tom came up to Kansas for a few years to run shoots with the express purpose of turning me into a shoot boss.  He practically wore a groove between his house and my local range.  With his mentoring we went from me being the only active hat as an IIT 1 to a state with now 6 red hats and 14+ somewhat active hats of all colors.

Here we are a year and a half later now with a budding crop of orange hats and shooters!  Tom planted the seeds of a solid program in Kansas and nurtured it for years.



Besides shooting Tom enjoyed riding his bike and did the Hotter 'n' Hell Hundred 100 mile bike ride as well as numerous other 100 milers.


I'll leave you with this photo Tom posted on Facebook with a simple sentence.


"Remember, there is beauty all around us every day. Everything is going to be all right."

Rest in peace Tom.  Take your rest.  You are home.

scuzzy

Rest in Peace Brother.

I'd known Tom for many a year from both Appleseeds and run n' guns. Pretty much shocked to hear of this.
An Armed Society is a polite society. Heinlein.

Tennessee Beast

In giving us dominion over the animal kingdom, God has signified His will that we subdue the beast within ourselves.
John Lancaster Spalding

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin, 1775

"A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies."  George Washington 1790

"[T]o preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them…"
- Richard Henry Lee, Declaration Signer

Practice every time you get a chance. - Bill Monroe

Taylor

I never had the honor of meeting him but he was one heck of a guy. RIP
Honoring the memory of Adonijah Taylor (1730-1810) my Grandfather seven generations back, Deerfield MA Militiaman and Patriot, who answered the alarm on April 19, 1775 and along with his six sons served in the War of the Revolution.

"What good fortune for governments that the people do not think." - Adolf Hitler

"All political power comes from the barrel of a gun. The communist party must command all the guns, that way, no guns can ever be used to command the party." - Mao Tse Tung

"Those bold enough to believe that they can change the world, are usually those which do."
-Albert Einstein

"Let Freedom never perish in your hands."
-Joseph Addison

Mercedes

What a beautiful memorial.  Our prayers are with his daughter.

Debbie and Padraic Fonseca

TaosGlock

So sorry to hear of his passing.
RIP Tom.
Prayers sent to his daughter.
89 fantastic Appleseeds since 2008/24 Libertyseeds!
Adventure Camp Director/Current Lead Rifle Instructor: NRA WC Raton,NM
New Mexico's first Rifleman: Sept. 2008 NRAWC
Their walls are filled with cannonballs, their motto is don't tread on me-Grateful Dead
Liberty is not a cruise ship full of pampered passengers. It is a man of war and we are all crew-Boston T. Party
"Make no mistake, when you cheer for the people of the American Revolution, you are cheering for traitors and criminals.
They broke the law, because liberty is always illegal"- Larken Rose

Sir Not Appearing In This Film

I didn't know him well, but thought well of him as a good man.

I never worked a 'seed alongside Tom, but rubbed elbows with him at various run and gun events. In 2015 he drove to Pecos, TX in a Jeep that had a defective door buzzer blaring the whole trip. I shed some blood unplugging the sensor for him with some borrowed tools so he could have peace on the trip home. It might have been the last time I saw him.

RIP brother.
Ladyseed Man Slave

"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing." - Theodore Roosevelt

Attitudes are contagious. I hope mine is worth catching.

BillP_556

"Remember, there is beauty all around us every day. Everything is going to be all right."

Sorry I didn't get to know you Tom, but from how everyone talks about you, I think we would of gotten along just fine. 

Rest in peace.

Respectfully,

BillP_556

Crazyduckhunter

As I rest this evening after preparing for a AS event here in OH I read this posting. My heart goes out to a fellow patriot in the AS program that has followed before me through those pearly gates of Heaven. God rest in peace and we will have a moment of silence for you tomorrow during our AS event here in OH. Love you.
CDH

minuteman1636

First Project Appleseed event 19-20 May 2018
Rifleman Qualification 19-20 May 2018
Instructor Boot Camp 30-31 March 2019 (Neodesha 3-19)

"It is the task of our generation, yours and mine. But we build and defend not for our generation alone. We defend the foundations laid down by our fathers. We build a life for generations yet unborn.
We defend and we build a way of life, not for America alone, but for all mankind. Ours is a high duty, a noble task." ---Franklin Delano Roosevelt May 26th, 1940.

Cleveland

The highest level of mastery is simplicity. Most information is irrelevant and most effort is wasted, but only the expert knows what to ignore. James Clear

Rifleman 19April2015
KD Qualified 17Oct2015
Pistoleer™ 12Dec2020
KD Requal 11Nov2021 50/50
Pistol IBC/Charter Pistol Instructor Antioch 2-22
200y RKD Qualified 14May2022

SKSRifleman

I just now stumbled upon this, I had no idea. What a loss...  :'( I'll never forget Tom. Last time I saw him was at a 2018 Appleseed event that I helped instruct. He was probably, hands down, one of my best coaches. I remember he was right on the line in the dirt next to me at my first Appleseed event I attended as a student 8 years ago, and even let me borrow his AR-15 on an AQT after class that Sunday. Just all around great guy. Him and I were both avid history buffs and readers and he had an extensive book collection at his house that he let me peruse through and borrow a couple of titles from. Very sad to hear about this. The pic below was from my very first Appleseed back in June 2012. It was the same event that Tom earned his red hat. Rest in Peace old friend, it was an honor to share the line with you as a student and instructor.
The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their Houses, and Farms, are to be pillaged and destroyed, and they consigned to a State of Wretchedness from which no human efforts will probably deliver them." - George Washington - July 2, 1776

"Like it or not, everything is changing. The result will be the most wonderful experience in the history of man or the most horrible enslavement that you can imagine. Be active or abdicate, the future is in your hands." - William Cooper