Thomas John Conlon

Tom, Tommy

Tom is James and Virginia Conlon's ninth and last child. Tom is the baby. Tom is married to Phuong Dai, a beautiful Vietnamese woman, whom he met via the Internet. Tom and Phuong Dai have two beautiful boys, Jimmy (almost 3 now) and Tommy (just had his first birthday on November 5, 2006).

It's interesting that Tom wound up with the Vietnam connection. His older brothers, Jim and Mike (practically 20 years older than Tom), both were of draft age at the time of the Vietnam war. Jim managed to steer clear of the draft -- his number was high or low enough (whichever?), so he didn't get called, but Mike was not so lucky. Mike filed for, and was granted "conscientious objector" status for the Vietnam War. This is an official status offered by the U.S. government and difficult to obtain. Instead of fighting, Mike had to serve his country in another way. He chose social work, and wound up serving his time for many years working at a home for emotionally disturbed girls in Milwaukee.

But I digress, for this passage is indeed about my younger brother Tom, who is seven years younger than me.

Tom wound up in Vietnam, meeting Phuong Dai (his then future wife) face to face for the first time.

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