Thomas enlisted into the Marine Corps on August 14, 1941 at
the age of 17. He joined because he thought that the Marines were the best
branch of all the services.
Thomas was on the first troop carrying convoy to sail from
the west coast to Hawaii after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He landed at Pearl
on Christmas Day, 1941.
Some of the islands that Thomas served on were Guadalcanal, Bougainville
and this young Marine was part of the invasion force that landed on the island
of Guam on July 21, 1944. Later Thomas was to land on Iwo Jima but his division
was sent back to Guam because they were not needed.
Thomas was also one of 60 Marines that were transferred to
the U.S.S. Maryland after the battleship was damaged by Japanese kamikaze
aircraft. The ship docked in Bremerton, Washington for repairs on May 8, 1945,
the day Germany surrendered. He then was transferred to the Naval Operation
base at Norfolk, Virginia and then on to Quantico, Virginia.
Thomas was sitting on the steps of the U.S.capital in
Washington, D.C. when he heard the news of the Japanese surrender. This was
August 14, 1945.
After 2 years, 10 months and 12 days Thomas was discharged
from the Marine Corps on September 11, 1945 with the rank of Corporal. Some of
the awards that Thomas received were the Combat Action Ribbon, Good Conduct and
the American Defense medal. He also received the American Campaign medal, the
WWII Victory medal and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign medal with 1 Bronze Star.
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