Thomas A. (Tom) Ross was raised in Pensacola, Florida where he lived and attended college until he enlisted in the U.S. Army.  Tom's commitment to both community and country were apparent long before entering military service when, at a young age, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America.

      Compelled to serve at a time when our country's involvement in the Vietnam War was escalating, Tom first thought about serving as a military pilot since his father had flown with the 8th Air Force during WWII. After passing the required apptitude and physical tests for Army flight school at Fort Rucker, Alabama, Tom was accepted for flight training and assigned a class date . . . 90 days away.

      Feeling he couldn't wait 3 months to begin his military service, Tom opted to decline flight school and left college to enter the U. S. Army as an enlistee in 1966 at the rank of private.  Completing Basic Training ranked number one scholastically and as a result he was sent to Army Leadership Training School, where he was named Honor Graduate. Before completing his next assignment at Advanced Infantry Training, Tom was accepted into and immediately sent to OCS (Officer Candidate School) where he received a commission as a second lieutenant.

Upon graduation from OCS, Tom applied for and was accepted for training in the U.S. Army's elite Special Forces, also known as the "Green Berets".  After completing more than a year of intensive unconventional warfare training, he was assigned to an operational "A" Team, Detachment A-502, with the 5th Special Forces Group in South Vietnam.

      Tom's late January 1968 arrival in Vietnam coincided with the infamous Tet Offensive.  He was immediately assigned as operations and intelligence officer of the largest Special Forces "A" Team ever created.  The team, which normally operated with twelve members, had more than fifty men and advised a large Vietnamese military force posted at a main base and throughout five outposts.  His position, responsible for the Team's intelligence network and its military operations, provided Tom with a unique vantagepoint from which he was able to observe both men and women as they coped with their wartime assignments and experiences.

      During his tour of duty as a military advisor in Vietnam, Tom was also given the rare opportunity to plan and serve as overall commander of a unique rescue mission.  Accompanied by a handfull of fellow Green Berets and Vietnamese infantry units, Tom and the ground unit were delivered deep into enemy territory by the men of a daring assault helicopter company, the 281st AHC.  As a result of their effort, the ground and air team liberated 165 mountain villagers who had been used as slaves, crop growers, and human pack animals.  The story of the rescue mission, which was documented by CBS Television, aired on the morning news, afternoon news, and The Evening News with Walter Cronkite in August of 1968.  The mission received additional national and international coverage through other news media, including United Press International, the Reuters News Agency and Scripps-Howard.  Video records, which document this mission are stored in the CBS Television archives as well as in television archives at Vanderbilt University.

      After completing regular active duty service at the end of 1968, Tom remained a reserve officer.  During his final reserve assignments at Special Forces headquarters - the JFK Center for Special Warfare at Fort Bragg - he was assigned the task of reviewing and/or re-writing classified SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) or training programs for hazardous special operations.  Upon returning from Vietnam he also joined the family jewelry business in a management position and returned to college, where earned two undergraduate degrees and a master's degree.  He graduated with honors and was a member of a national honor society.

      In 1991, Tom was given an honorable discharge as a Major in the Special Forces branch of the U.S. Army.   Continuing his commitment to his country and the mission of Special Forces, he is a Lifetime member of the Special Forces Association and a Lifetime Member of the JFK Special Warfare/Special Forces Branch Museum Association.  He is also a member of the Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business Association.  While he is very proud of all his military memberships, one that he is especially proud of is his honorary membership in the 281st Assault Helicopter Company Association because it was this unit that made the resuce of the villagers in Vietnam possible.

       Currently, President & CEO of a small upscale custom design jewelry company, he has served in key executive positions since leaving active military service in 1968. He began his career with his family's small jewelry design and manufacturing company located in Pensacola, Florida.  Later,in 1983, with his family's blessings, he sought a larger arena and was recruited to both nationally and internationally recognized luxury goods companies.  Returning to family roots in 1999, he reestablished the family business in Atlanta, Georgia under the name The Ross Jewelry Company.

      Tom's career in the luxury goods industry provided unique opportunities to meet numerous celebrities and public figures with whom he has worked on a wide variety of community events and charitable affairs.  Among these international celebrities was Audrey Hepburn, for whom he hosted a unique charity related breakfast . . . very different from his wartime assignments.   Receiving recognition as a result of his community and humanitarian efforts, Tom was presented with the Georgia Outstanding Citizen award as well as the People of Vision Award.  With professional media training in New York, he has been a platform speaker, has lectured at university level and served on numerous community boards.  He has been invited to provide media interviews and has been profiled in various social and business publications.  Tom has appeared on local, national and international radio and television, including CNN, CNBC, NBC, CBS and ABC.

      While Tom continues to manage and develop the regenerated family business, he also works on other business ventures.  He and his wife, Amy, are involved in family and community interests.  In addition to Privileges of War, his inspirational story of men and women who served in Vietnam, Tom is currently working on a closely related fictional intellectual adventure story, A Black Tie Affair.

To visit Tom's company, please click on The Ross Jewelry Company logo below.