Thomas S. Myerchin
"Tom"

Company M-1

5 Feb 1937 - 15 May 2012

Place of Death: Goodlettsville, TN

It is with great regret and sorrow that we must notify you of the sudden death of our classmate, Tom Myerchin, on 15 May at his home in Goodlettsville, TN.  He is survived by his devoted wife, Barbara LaFollette Myerchin; son and daughter-in-law, Thomas S. Myerchin, Jr. and Cinthya Blanchard of Port St. Lucie, FL; brothers, John and William Myerchin; sister, Catherine Erickson; and numerous nieces and nephews who loved and admired him.

Visitation will be from 3-7 p.m., Sunday, May 20, at the Madison Funeral Home, 219 East Old Hickory Boulevard, Madison, TN  37115.  Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Monday, 21 May, at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, 1729 Stop 30 Road, Hendersonville, TN 37075.  Interment follows at 1:00 p.m. at Middle Tennessee Veteran’s Cemetery, Pegram, TN.

Remembrances:

Class Memorial Pages\M-1 Tom Myerchin.pdf

Obituaries:

MYERCHIN, Thomas Schiller---family man, scholar, soldier, hero---died Tuesday, May 15, 2012 in Goodlettsville, TN. This gracious, caring and generous man was guided throughout his life by a strong and abiding faith. Col. Myerchin, U. S. Army retired, served his country courageously for thirty-one years in the Special Forces: and continued to serve his fellow soldiers through at least five different volunteer groups in Middle Tennessee. Myerchin was the second son of Joe and Laura Myerchin of Grand Forks, North Dakota. He is survived by his devoted wife, Barbara LaFollette Myerchin; son and daughter-in-law, Thomas Schiller Myerchin, Jr. and Cinthya Blanchard of Port St. Lucie, FL; brothers, John and William Myerchin; sister, Catherine Erickson; and numerous nieces and nephews who loved and admired him. Visitation will be from 3-7 p.m., Sunday, May 20, at the Madison Funeral Home. Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. the following morning at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, Hendersonville, TN. Interment follows at 1:00 p.m. at Middle Tennessee Veteran’s Cemetery. Pegram, TN. The family encourages donations to Operation Stand Down, 1125 12th Ave. S. Nashville, TN 37203, a non-profit organization assisting Middle Tennessee veterans, especially homeless vets. Online tributes, madisonfuneralhome.net MADISON FUNERAL HOME 615-868-9020

Taps Memorial Article:

Thomas S. Myerchin 1961

Cullum No. 23793 • May 15, 2012 • Died in Goodlettsville, TN

Interred in Middle Tennessee Veterans Cemetery, Pegram, TN

Thomas Schiller Myerchin was born in Grand Forks, ND. He attended the University of North Dakota as a mining engineering student in 1955-56. Later, in 1961, he received his undergraduate degree in military engineering from the United States Military Academy and was commissioned a second lieutenant of Infantry. Colonel Myerchin’s military education included the Infantry Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, Special Forces Qualification Course, Navy College of Command and Staff, National War College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He holds a Master of Education in Industrial Psychology from Georgia State University, Master of Science in International Affairs from George Washington University, and a Doctorate of Psychology from Georgia State University. In 1988, he was a Fellow in National Security Studies at the J.F.K. School of Government, Harvard University. He authored a number of military publications and academic texts.

He held a variety of command and staff positions both overseas and in the United States. In Panama, he commanded both a rifle platoon and an airborne infantry company. He served as an “A” Detachment Commander with the 7th Special Forces Group in the Dominican Republic expedition and later commanded an “A” Detachment at Loc Ninh and a Mobile Strike Battalion (Mike Force) with the 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam. While there, he also was assigned to the Phoenix Program. He served an additional tour of duty in Vietnam in 1967-68 with the 1/508th Airborne Infantry Battalion, 3rd Brigade, and 82nd Airborne Division as Operations Officer and later as interim Battalion Commander. In 1973, he received orders for a third tour in Vietnam. Other assignments have included duty as a Company Commander and instructor, Ft. Benning, GA; Project Manager, U.S. Forces Command; and Executive Officer of a mechanized infantry brigade in Korea.

In 1978, COL Myerchin assumed command of the 3rd Mechanized Battalion, 19th Infantry, 24th Infantry Division, at Ft. Stewart, GA. This was followed by his selection as professor at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, specializing in organization and personnel management. COL Myerchin then became the Chief, Leadership and Human Resource Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, and subsequently Chief, Special Operations Division, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Department of the Army. There he commanded covert military units in worldwide classified operations.

In 1987, COL Myerchin assumed duties as the Directory of Academic Affairs at the National Defense University. In 1989, was named as Chief, Special Operations Division, Operations Directorate, and the Joint Staff. In this capacity, he assisted in the highly sensitive planning for conducting classified operations in the Caribbean, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Columbia, as well as in Kuwait and Iraq during Desert Storm 1990-91. He retired from the Army in 1992. He then joined Booz Allen and Hamilton as a Senior Associate in the Special Operations Practice. In 1993, he accepted a position in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OASD-DO/LIC) and was designated the Chief of Special Operations Forces Missions and Policy Branch. Also, in 1993, he became an Assistant Professor of Human Recourses in the School of Business, Marymount University, a position that he held until 2002 when he moved to Nashville, TN. He then served as an Adjunct Professor of Human Resources. In 1994, he was appointed as the National Director of Education for the Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury and left in 1998 to become a partner in a Washington, DC-based consulting firm that was loosely affiliated with the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). COL Myerchin then served on the Board of Directors for “Operation Stand Down Nashville,” an organization that provides aid and assistance to homeless military veterans in the mid-state area of Tennessee. He also volunteered as a counselor with the Nashville Chapter of the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), which assists entrepreneurs in business start ups and other strategic directions. He was also a member of the fraternal order of the Knights of Columbus in Hendersonville, TN.

COL Myerchin’s awards and decorations included the Silver Star, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal (with seven Oak Leaf Clusters), Purple Heart, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (with four Oak Leaf Clusters), eight Air Medals, the Army Commendation Medal (with Oak Leaf cluster) National Defense Service Medal (with Star), Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, two Vietnam Campaign Medals and the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm. His badges include the Combat Infantry Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, Special Forces Tab, Ranger Tab, Army General Staff Badge, and the Joint Staff Badge. He was a member of the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Special Forces Association.