Lt. Col. Thomas Flaherty Sr., recently chosen as one of America’s best attorneys, is a general aviation pilot. He also serves as the legal officer and government relations advisor for Civil Air Patrol’s Oregon Wing. (Courtesy photo)
Welcome to the Civil Air Patrol America 250 series. We will be highlighting American hero members and their service in this series leading up to the America 250 celebration. This is the first of that series: Lt. Col. Thomas Flaherty Sr.
A 10-year member of Civil Air Patrol who serves as the Oregon Wing’s legal officer and governmental relations advisor has been named one of America’s best attorneys, according to gritdaily.com.
Lt. Col. Thomas Flaherty Sr. is a veteran and member of the Washington County Composite Squadron. He is a sole practitioner in Hillsboro, Oregon, specializing in aviation law.
“I’m kind of surprised, to tell you the truth. I’m just a single lawyer here in Hillsboro. I don’t know how they picked me.”
Gritdaily.com trumpets itself as the nation’s “premier startup news hub” and as the “top news source for millennial and Gen Z startups.”
The online publication called Flaherty “an influential and credible advocate, leaving a lasting mark on the legal profession.”
Served in the U.S. Marine Corps
A decorated veteran of the Vietnam conflict, Flaherty served in the U.S. Marine Corps as an infantry platoon commander and company commander from 1967-70, initially with the First Marine Division and later with the Fifth Marine Division. He later served in the Marine Reserves from 1970 until 1997.
Flaherty, born in Berwick, Pennsylvania, and raised in Florissant, Missouri, has a simple answer when asked what drew him to the law.
“My Mom and Dad wanted me to become a lawyer,” he said. Flaherty earned his undergraduate and law degrees at St. Louis University. Part of his practice centers on aviation law. The day after receiving his bachelor’s degree, he received his Marine Corps commission.
A Proud Vietnam Veteran
Flaherty is proud of his Vietnam service and of his comrades, who he said have often been treated unfairly by critics of the conflict. He tells a harrowing story of a 48-hour period of going from heaven to hell, going from beautiful California beaches to the hell of Vietnam, into the teeth of the communist Tet Offensive.
Flaherty described what he saw as the military transport began its descent into Vietnam in 1968.
“All I saw were tracers and explosions in the night. The ramp of the C-141 dropped, we were told to get out of the plane and into trenches, because there were rocket attacks and mortar attacks going on. We were at the Da Nang air base.”
After hours in the trenches, Flaherty and his unit loaded on to trucks and traveled through villages deep in the Vietnamese jungle.
“It was like going to another world,” he said. “We went up a mountain and the truck stopped. There were these old wooden buildings, built into the side of the mountain. We were told to go into the buildings and go to sleep.”
There were no sleeping bags, no food, and no water. Nor was there sleep.
“You couldn’t sleep because of the machine gun fire, the mortar fire, the artillery. Everything was going off. The Tet Offensive had just started.”
Wounded in Heavy Fighting
While serving in Vietnam, Flaherty was seriously wounded three times, earning two Purple Hearts, the Legion of Merit, the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat “V,” the Presidential Unit Citation, the Combat Action Ribbon, and the Vietnamese Ribbon with Four Stars.
“After two weeks in Vietnam and heavy fighting, I thought ‘there’s no way I’m going to make it out of this place alive.’”
Flaherty hopes readers take away an important point regarding his Vietnam service.
“I didn’t kill any babies in Vietnam,” he said. “We didn’t mistreat any civilians. We didn’t shoot any prisoners — and we took many — and we followed the Geneva Conventions to the letter of the law. We treated prisoners well; we didn’t beat them; we didn’t shoot them.”
He also said accusations of drug use among American troops were false.
“There were a lot of times we didn’t have food, because the helicopters couldn’t get in.”
A Leader in the Reserves
In the Marine Reserves, Flaherty served in a variety of roles, including company commander and battalion executive officer with the Sixth Engineer Support Battalion. He also served as the site staff judge advocate for Marine Air Group 42 and as assistant regional defense counsel for the Pacific Region and deputy chief defense counsel for the Marine Corps.
In private practice, Flaherty has followed the example of his first employer, Ted Lachman.
“He had been a Marine lieutenant in the Second World War,” Flaherty said. “In fact, the reason they hired me was because of my Marine Corps record.”
An FAA-certificated B-25 pilot, Lt. Col. Thomas Flaherty Sr. was part of the flight crew that flew twin-engine World War II bomber “Grumpy” during a Washington, D.C., air show in 2018 commissioning the 100-year anniversary of the Royal Air Force. (Courtesy photo)
Joined Civil Air Patrol to Fly
Asked what drew him to Civil Air Patrol, Flaherty gave a simple answer:
“Flying.”
He is an instrument-rated CAP pilot. But he was asked to serve as the Oregon Wing lawyer and to serve the wing in governmental affairs, where he helps make the case for the organization with the state’s congressional and legislative delegations.
“Mainly what I do as a lawyer involves aviation law, so it has a great impact on the Oregon Wing because a lot of the wing activities deal with aviation.”
Flaherty offered counsel to CAP cadets.
“Study hard,” he said. “Study real hard in science and mathematics and get as far in mathematics as you can. And when you go to college, study engineering and science. Make good grades as best you can.”
‘An Important Voice’ for CAP
Col. Scott Maguire, the Oregon Wing commander, praised Flaherty’s work, calling him “an important voice” when CAP makes its annual pitch for congressional and state funding.
“Because of the work that Lt. Col. Flaherty did, we were able to visit all eight congressional offices in a single day. We took cadets with us, and that sells the whole program of what [CAP] is doing. It makes us visible to our highest elected leaders in the state. It’s much appreciated.”
His legal advice is “crucial” to the wing, Maguire said.
“We’re volunteers and lay people,” he said, “so I need people like Lt. Col. Flaherty to keep us on the straight path.”
Leadership Opportunities Abound in CAP
Civil Air Patrol’s adult ranks consist of volunteers from all backgrounds, including service in the military, like Lt. Col. Flaherty. CAP offers hands-on training, mentorship, and service opportunities nationwide. To learn more about membership and find a local unit, visit gocivilairpatrol.com.
