Tommy reports that he was born on Tuesday July 21, 1931 in the City Hospital of Boston. He remembers crying at age four in the District Court of Charlestown, when the Judge reluctantly said, "Please take this boy away." 'Away' meant to a foster home. His surname Gorsuch was temporarily changed to Rowe, the surname of his newly adopted family. He was only six years old when a slimy character, who the kids in the neighborhood called "Uncle Joe" Unfortunately Uncle Joe took advantage of Tommy. This horrendous act affected his whole life. The first of many beatings Tommy endured was from Rachel, his adoptive family's 'sister'. Tommy took advantage of his adoptive mother, bought food items on her charge and had a cook-out t for his friends on a local dump. When he started school at age five, he fell in love with his teacher Miss Linda. It didn't last long, as Tommy got a terrible beating from his foster brother James, which caused his foster family to move Tommy out of the school district to a home for boys, called the House of the Angel Guardian. (H.A.G.) Tommy's surname was changed back to Gorsuch. Every few years Tommy's biological mother turned up, sometimes with a boyfriend. She made promises to Tommy which she never kept. Tommy had a very quick temper and was an excellent boxer from an early age. He was a sensitive young fellow who intervened at the H.A.G. if he witnessed a boy being bullied by an older boy. One day as he intervened and hit the abuser with a left hook under the chin and knocked him out. Through acts like this he developed both self-respect as a sensitive individual and instilled fear among other boys who fancied themselves as good boxers. When he was eleven years old his biological mother surprised him, turning up at a theatre that Tommy was attending that afternoon, accompanied by Tommy's dad. Tommy was very excited, as he didn't remember ever being with his dad before. They invited Tommy to spend the weekend with them, which Tommy enjoyed. Before they drove him back the H.A.G. they told him they would take him to live with them, when they got some things organized. It never happened and Tommy wondered for months afterward what had he said or done over the weekend that turned them off. Because of his difficult childhood and being molested twice by adult males, Tommy had difficulty developing a sexual identity. While living at the H.A.G. he formed a relationship with another boy. They became lovers and enjoyed sleeping together. Somebody reported them to the director of the school and Tommy was expelled and transferred to a foster home that had a chicken farm. Tommy enjoyed feeding the chickens, collecting the hen eggs and keeping the hen-house organized. The only problem he had then was walking several miles to school to continue his education.