Thomas Joseph Lynch (9 December 1916 – 8 March 1944) was a United States Army Air Forces lieutenant colonel and a flying ace of World War II.

After joining the United States Army Air Corps in 1940, Lynch flew the Bell P-39 Airacobra with the 39th Pursuit Squadron.

[4] He entered the University of Pittsburgh, where he was undefeated in intramural boxing and joined ROTC and the Scabbard and Blade, a military honor society.

[6][7] Lynch joined the United States Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet in June 1940, completed pilot training, and earned his wings at Maxwell Field, Alabama (Class 41-A).

[7] Pearl Harbor was attacked December 7th, and by January, 1942 twenty pilots of the 39th were aboard the SS Ancon (1901) bound for Brisbane, Australia.

Lynch was forced to bail out at 800 ft off the coast of Port Moresby, breaking his arm in the process of exiting the cockpit.

For this action, which resulted in the breaking up of an attempted Japanese bombing raid, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Lynch became one of the first in the South West Pacific to shoot down a Kawasaki Ki-48 Lily bomber on 4 September over the Huon Gulf.

[17] Lynch returned to combat in January, assigned to V Fighter Command alongside fellow top-scoring ace Richard Bong.

On 15 February Lynch covered Bong while he downed a Kawasaki Ki-61 Tony on a flight back from an escort mission to Kavieng.

On 28 February, he also covered Bong while he destroyed a Japanese transport possibly carrying senior officers on the Wewak runway.

[6] Lynch earned the following decorations: The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Captain (Air Corps) Thomas Joseph Lynch, United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Pilot of a P-38 Fighter Airplane in the 39th Fighter Squadron, 35th Fighter Group, Fifth Air Force, in action near Buna, New Guinea, on 27 December 1942.

Captain Lynch was leading a patrol flight of four P-38 planes when a formation of eight to ten enemy dive-bombers accompanied by fifteen to twenty fighter aircraft approached.