William Garfield Thomas Jr.

William Garfield Thomas Jr. (September 13, 1916 - October 12, 1942) was born in Watsontown, Pennsylvania.

Naval career

He enlisted in the

He was serving on the light cruiser USS Boise during the Battle of Cape Esperance. When his "turret was hit by enemy fire and danger of ... explosions grew increasingly imminent, Lt. (j.g.) Thomas with utter disregard of his own personal safety remained behind to ensure abandonment of the perilous area . . . Despite the fact that eight of his men succeeded in getting out and that he too might easily have escaped . . . Thomas when last seen was telephoning the handling room to order the crew out."

Awarded the Navy Cross

He was awarded the

Namesake

The Garfield Thomas Water Tunnel operated by the Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory is named in his honor; completed on October 7, 1949.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

• Garfield Thomas

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