Herbert Richard Thomas
T/5 in 3133rd Signal Service Co
Born 1922 in IN, Died 1995
County of residence at enlistment: Floyd County, IN
Other residence(s): Greenville, IN; Pryor, OK; Cincinnati, OH
United States Army, European Theatre of Operations
Occupation before the war: clerks and kindred occupations
College education before the war: William & Mary
College education after the war: Purdue
Dick Thomas was born on November 2, 1922 in Spencer, IN, the oldest of three children. His father was a garage mechanic, and later a furnace installer.
In 1940, he graduated from New Albany High School (IN)—a centralized high school for a rural region (which included his community of Greenville, IN).
It is likely that he attended William & Mary University for a year, but by 1942 was working as a clerk for DuPont in Pryor, OK.* He registered for the draft on June 29, 1942 and enlisted on January 4, 1943.
He was eventually assigned to the 3133 Signal Service Company, and saw service in Italy in 1945. He was discharged on February 2, 1946 with the rank of T/5.
Dick returned to Indiana and used his GI Bill benefits to study engineering at Purdue, graduating in 1950. He returned briefly to his roots—teaching shop for one year in New Albany, IN, at the same high school he had attended. He took a summer job at General Electric in 1951 and ended up spending the rest of his career there.
He married Orlena Mae Lindsey on January 31, 1953 in Cincinnati, OH; they would go on to have three daughters: Karen, Janet, and Linda.
He was an engineer with GE until the late 1970s when he switched to their finance division, working with electrical power plant accounts. He retired in 1983.
Dick's hobbies included gardening and coin collecting. He was also very involved in his local church and served as treasurer and board member for many years.
Dick was living in Cincinnati, OH at the time of his death, on September 2, 1995, and is buried at Rest Haven Cemetery in Sharonville, OH.
*He was likely one of 10,000 employees at a critical ammunition powder plant in Pryor, Oklahoma Ordnance Works. The plant represented a cooperative venture between DuPont and the federal government, and was located, along with a prisoner of war camp, on 15,000 acres of government land on the border of Cherokee Nation territory.
Sources:
1922 birth record
1930 census
1940 census
1942 draft card
1943 enlistment record
1950 Purdue yearbook (listed as Richard H. Thomas)
https://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/digital/collection/debris/id/27293/rec/64
1953 marriage record
1995 Find a Grave record
1995 Social Security applications and claims index
1995 Ohio death record
2024 (March 13) GALP Veteran Biography Worksheet from daughter Karen Thomas Lower