After 34 years of loyal and honorable service to our country, Thomas Yelito has called it a day.

A native of Tamaqua, Yelito retired from the United States Army Reserve on April 1.It’s been a long and winding journey for Yelito, who began his military service in 1972 upon graduating from Tamaqua Area High School.“My time spent in the Army has been very challenging, but rewarding, as well as humbling,” Yelito said. “Although nothing was easy, the training especially was difficult.”Yelito said the training to become an Army Criminal Investigation Division Agent “was extremely lengthy, and at the end your final exam was a complete mock death investigation, which had taken an average of 10 hours to complete.“After you finish one school, there was always more training, which is part of the Army doctrine, and places each individual soldier on a path to become successful in their military occupational specialty,” he said.“Army Special Agents are trained as criminal investigators and also in protective services to protect the top seven leaders at the Pentagon, the same as the Secret Service protects the president.”Yelito said that after he became an agent in July 2001, “two months later we were attacked, and the deployments began.”He said he was deployed six times since then and has no regrets.“This is when you find out how important your training is,” he said.In 2003, Yelito was deployed to Iraq at the beginning of the war and was selected to protect the Deputy Commanding General for the 3rd Army, “Patton’s own, always first, always forward” was the motto, said Yelito, “and we were.”He said they traveled everywhere throughout Iraq by all means of transportation.“What we witnessed was what the American soldier has to endure day in and day out, in conditions that can’t be understood unless you were there,” he said. “It is not like watching a Hollywood movie for a few hours while you are sipping on a cold drink and eating popcorn.”Yelito added, “the conditions were hard, but I never witnessed any of our soldiers complain. They were well-trained and had a mission to accomplish, and they moved on,” he said. “I can honestly say it was an honor to serve with men and women like that, and I am proud to have been a part of it all.”After that deployment, Yelito said his other five deployments were classified.“There are so many sacrifices our soldiers, and not only Army, all the branches included, make while serving our country,” he said. “I must mention that the families of military members also endure hardships of their own, my wife and children included.”Yelito said the highlight of his military career came in the last four years of service in which he and his son, Tyler, served our country at the same time.Tyler served in the U.S. Air Force Security Forces from May 2012 through May 2016, and was honorably discharged May 15, 2016, 15 days after his father retired.However, Yelito said he and his son only crossed paths once during Tyler’s four years of service when Tyler was stationed at Lakenheath, England, and the Army happened to send Yelito on a Protective Service mission to London for a week.“After the mission was complete, I stayed on for two weeks and met up with Tyler, and we traveled throughout England and also traveled to Ireland for five days, and since I never had the opportunity to celebrate his 21st birthday, we hit most of the pubs on the ‘Ring of Kerry’ in southern Ireland,” Yelito said. “It was a great time.”Tyler has been accepted to Northwest Florida State College, he said.Tom lives in Washington, D.C., and Valdosta, Georgia, and is married to the former Joy Lang of Panama City, Florida.Together, they have three children, Amber, Tyler and Rosie (a senior at Valdosta State University), along with two grandchildren, Mason and Dalton.“My family has given me great support through all this, and they are proud that their dad was in the U.S. Army,” Yelito said.“Since I now work at the Pentagon, I have an opportunity to reflect on my experiences, and I work midnights so I can walk around the corridors alone and I get to see all the military photos and memories of American sacrifice, from the beginning of this country on display, and I am reminded of how fortunate I was to be part of it and to have a son that also did his part as my father did,” he said.“Anybody that has ever served has a million stories about their military experiences, so looking back on all the years, I can say it was “one hell of a ride,” and to paraphrase Gen. George Patton, “I won’t have to tell my grandkids I shoveled you-know-what in Louisiana.”_____Yelito enlisted in the United States Air Force, upon graduating from Tamaqua Area High School in 1972.After four years of service, one year served overseas in Southeast Asia, Yelito received an Honorable Discharge.He attended College at Mansfield University, graduating in 1980 with a bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice.In 1982, Yelito joined the Air Force Reserves and was a member until 1989 and received another Honorable Discharge.In 1995, he enlisted in the Army Reserves Military Police Corps.While serving in the Army Reserves, he served six combat tours as a U.S. Army CID Special Agent.Yelito, who finished his military career with 19 years total federal service, retired on June 30, 2015, and was recalled to active duty the next day, July 1, 2015, to assist with the largest fraud investigation in Army history.He was appointed team chief of the western region for Task Force Raptor, headquartered at Quantico, Virginia.Yelito retired permanently on April 1, and is now employed as a civilian contractor at the Pentagon for the Headquarters, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C., in criminal intelligence.MILITARY HONORS: The Army’s General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award, Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Bronze Star Medal 2nd, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Air Force Good Conduct Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal w/oak leaf, National Defense Service Medal with star, Vietnam Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two stars, Iraqi Campaign Medal with two stars, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terror Service Medal, Air Force Overseas Ribbon-Short Tour, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Air Force Training Ribbon, NATO Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Army Meritorious Unit Commendation and the Air Force Munitions Maintenance Badge.