Tonnis Boukamp was born in Muskegon, Michigan, on December 28, 1920. Later the family moved to Port Huron, Michigan, where Tonnis completed his elementary education and entered Port Huron High School. He was President of his graduating class of May, 1939. He attended Port Huron Junior College for one year before entering the United States Military Academy.



His boyhood ambition was to attend West Point and become a pilot. That ambition began to be fulfilled when he entered the Academy in July 1940.



Lieutenant Boukamp received his commission in the Army Air Force at West Point, where he was graduated in June 1943 with a Bachelor of Science degree. Before he went overseas in February 1944, he received additional training at Mather Field, California; Lake Charles, Louisiana; Laurel, Mississippi; and Camp Shanks, New York.



Lieutenant Boukamp, veteran of the pre-invasion bombings of Nazi targets in France and Belgium, served as an A-20 Havoc pilot in support of Allied ground troops on the Western Front. He participated in a Ninth Air Force attack on the railroad marshaling yard and fuel dump at Domfront, France, where bombs from his group of A-20’s created fires and explosions and sent debris high into the air. His ship was one of the first group of A-20’s to attack targets in enemy occupied Europe. His operational missions were against targets ranging from communication lines and airfields to railroad yards and robot plane installations.



Lieutenant Boukamp was killed in action over Bitburg, Germany on September 29, 1944. On that day he had to make two runs over his target. When he made his second run his right engine was hit by the heavy flak which surrounded his plane. The right wing was in flames, and seconds later the plane went into a deep right turn and crashed. He had completed fifty-two missions over enemy held territory and held the Air Medal with many Oak Leaf Clusters.