Special Collections Department, History of Aviation Collection
Guide to the Thomas P. Grady Papers, -1977
CA56-02
Table of Contents
Collection Overview
- Repository
- Special Collections Department, History of Aviation Collection
- Title
- Thomas P. Grady Collection
- ID
- CA56-02
- Date [bulk]
- Bulk, 1965-1970
- Date [inclusive]
- 1960-1975
- Extent
- 5.0 Linear feet 1 oversize boox
- Language of Materials
- Collection is in English.
Citation
Thomas P. Grady Collection, Document name or type, Folder number, Box number, Series number, History of Aviation Collection, Special Collections Department, Eugene McDermott Library, The University of Texas at Dallas.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Special Collections Department, History of Aviation Collection 4 January 2012
800 West Campbell Road, MC33Richardson, TX, 75080-3021
972-883-2570
LIBSPCO@utdallas.edu.
Access Restrictions
Materials in this collection are open for research.
Literary Rights Statement
Permission to publish material from this collection in any form, current or future, must be obtained from the Special Collections Department, Eugene McDermott Library, The University of Texas at Dallas.
Provenance Statement
The Thomas P. Grady Collection was donated to the History of Aviation Collection, Special Collections Department, Eugene McDermott Library, The University of Texas at Dallas, by Thomas L. Grady on August 15, 2002.
Note to the Researcher
The weapons in this collection are fragile and have been placed in protective wrappings. Collections staff must assist with the opening, viewing, and handling of this collection. The firearms have been rendered non-firing by the disabling of their firing mechanisms, as well as their general age and condition.
Controlled Access Headings
Personal Name(s)
- Grady, Thomas L., Mr.
- Grady, Thomas P., Mr.
Subject(s)
- CAT/Air America Archives
Biographical Sketch
Thomas Paul Grady worked for Air America, Inc. from May 29, 1968 until his separation form the company on June 30, 1975. He was a rotary-wing aircraft pilot and was based out of Saigon, South Vietnam. Upon his return to civilian life he became a helicopter pilot with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. On the night of July 24, 1977 Grady and his co-pilot, Theodore Hellmers, were operating a Bell 205 helicopter in support of efforts to fight The Middle Fire, a 3,800 acre wild fire that had broken out in the Angeles National Forest near Los Angeles, California. During a nighttime landing at the Mill Creek Heliport the Bell 205 piloted by Grady and Hellmers, suffered a mid-air collision with a United States Forest Service Bell 212 helicopter. The collision seriously wounded Hellmers and the two pilots of the Bell 212, and killed Thomas P. Grady.
- Source
- Wildland Fire.com, "1977/07/24 CA Thomas Grady." [Online] 4 January 2012. http://www.wlfalwaysremember.org/incident-lists/237-thomas-grady.html
- Source
- Jerry Fink Collection, Air America Employee Roster, Folder 1, Box 33, History of Aviation Collection, Special Collections Department, Eugene McDermott Library, The University of Texas at Dallas.
Scope and Content
The Thomas P. Grady Collection consists of one box of firearms used by the Hmong Tribesmen of Laos in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The collection includes three wildcatted flintlocks, assembled from hand tooled parts as well of pieces of other firearms, one antique single barreled percussion shotgun, and one antique double barreled percussion shotgun. The collection also includes two wrist guards made from the hide of an unidentified local animal to provide protection to users of the firearms.
Series Description
The Thomas P. Grady Collection is arranged into one series:
Series I. Hmong Long Guns 5 linear ft. (one oversize box), 1960s.
Related Materials
Additional Sources
Information about Thomas P. Grady's career with Air America can be found in the Jerry Fink Collection and the Fred A. Walker Papers located in Air America Collections.
Additional information about Thomas P. Grady's firefighting helicopter crash can be located in The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Aviation Accident History, available from http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/av_safety/assurance/mishaps/fatal_aviation_accident_history.pdf.
Collection Inventory
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Hmong Primitive Flintlock Firearm - Short Barrel (Hand assembled from parts of other guns). 1960s
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Hmong Primitive Flintlock Firearm - Medium Barrel (Hand assembled from parts of other guns). 1960s
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Hmong Primitive Flintlock Firearm Long Barrel (Hand assembled from parts of other guns). 1960s
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Antique Muzzle Loading Double Barrel Percussion Shotgun. 1960s
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Antique Muzzle Loading Single Barrel Percussion Shotgun. 1960s
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Fur Wrist Cuffs (Designed to protect the gun firing mechanisms as well as the shooters wrists) - (2) 1960s
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