Fifty-seven years after his death on the Makin Atoll (today's Kiribati), the remains of SGT Clyde A Thomason Jr were found. Thomason, a posthumous Medal of Honor recipient, was killed in action during a raid on the atoll; the people of the Gilbert Islands buried his body and eighteen other US Marines. SGT Thomason would be the first US Serviceman to be a recipient of the Medal of Honor in WWII

Clyde Aristide Thomason Jr was born on May 23, 1914, to Sarah Zipporah Evans and Clyde A Thomason. He was the fourth son born, after JT, Oscar, and Fincher, followed by the only daughter, Sarah Jeanette; they all grew up in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia. The father, Clyde, was a road contractor, and his wife, Sarah, raised their five children.

Tragedy struck the family when the children's mother died in 1917. Clyde Sr remarried by 1930, according to the census of that decade. He had a child with his new wife, Amie Maxsom, a baby boy named Hugh, born in 1922, who would idolize his older stepbrother, Clyde.

In 1933, Clyde A Thomason graduated high school. A year later, in December 1934, Clyde enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in Savannah, Georgia. Thomason was a member of the USS Augusta Cruiser Marine detachment (CA 31), the flagship of the Asiatic Fleet. He was honorably discharged in 1939 but was retained by the Fleet Marine Force Reserve. Now a civilian, Clyde took a position with the Fire Companies Adjustment Bureau, Inc. in Albany, Georgia.

In January of 1942, Clyde enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve. The United States was now at war, and Clyde was a formidable six foot four inches and 190 pounds. He volunteered for a combat assignment and was assigned to the Company A, 2nd Marine Raider Battalion. On August 8, 1942, Raider Companies A and B boarded the USS Argonaut (SS-1) and the USS Nautilus SS-168; they later arrived at Makin Island on August 16, 1942.

On August 17, the Raiders came ashore on Makin from the submarines in rubber rafts fitted with outboard motors. The Raiders destroyed installations and disrupted Japanese reinforcements bound for the island of Guadalcanal. Thomson and the Raiders neutralized 83 of the enemy and two flying boats. Soon the Marines saw the Japanese coming, and the two sides fired at each other over a distance of 30 yards. "It was just two skirmish lines across the island, from palm tree to palm tree, in a big military version of the OK Corral," said SGT Buck Stidham of the Raiders. SGT Thomason, who was in the advanced assault died directing fire, killed by an enemy sniper.

The Marines were forced to evacuate Makin on August 18 and leave their dead behind in the face of heavy enemy reinforcements. Marine casualties from the two days’ fighting totaled 51, of whom 18 had been killed. Fourteen men were wounded, of whom two were officers. The missing totaled twelve, of which nine were known to have survived and were taken to Kwajalein, where they were beheaded.* . Seven Marines were drowned trying to buck the surf.

This action left 19 Marines behind, including SGT Thomason, who was listed officially as Missing in Action (MIA) and later declared dead. the Gilbert Islanders buried the Marine dead in an unmarked group grave. The Thomason family erected a cenotaph at Sandy Springs United Methodist Cemetery in Sandy Springs, Georgia. SGT Thomson was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart for his actions during the raid.

Following his death, the people of Georgia bought sufficient War Bonds for the Navy to build a destroyer escort. In April 1943, that destroyer was christened the USS Thomason DDE-203, launched in 1943. Later, after the war had ended, his name was engraved on the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at the Punchbowl, court 4 of the courts of the missing. A gold star inlay next to his name denotes he was a Medal of Honor recipient.

At the end of 1999, The Central Identification Laboratory (CILHI), based at Hickam Field, Hawaii, recovered the remains of 19 Marine Raiders killed in August 1942 during the raid on Makin Atoll. This recovery ended a search that began in 1948 by the Graves Registration Team, looking for SGT Thomson and the other 18 Marines left behind on Makin Atoll. Through November and December of 1999, a mass grave was discovered using radar and cadaver dogs; human remains, equipment, and ID tags were found. A Gilbert Islander, Bureimoa Tokarei, who was 16 and helped bury the Marines, led the CILHI team within feet of the burial site.

The repatriated remains were returned to the States, and their families decided on a joint internment at Arlington. On August 17, 2001, SGT Clyde A Thomson and 12 fellow Marine Raiders were buried in a group grave with full military honors in section 60 grave, 8036, at Arlington National Cemetery on the 59th Anniversary of the Makin Raid. After Clyde's remains were identified, a rosette was added to his name at the Punchbowl, indicating he was accounted for. Inspired by his brother's service, Clyde's younger brother Hugh enlisted in the Marine Corps and fought in WWII and Korea. He was present at the graveside of his older stepbrother he idolized in Arlington.

*NOTE: The Japanese officer responsible for the beheading of the Marines was Admiral Kōsō Abe. He was an later tried and executed for war crimes.

SBTS: Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/53248441/clyde-aristide-thomason

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SGT Clyde Aristide Thomason Awards:

Medal of Honor

Purple Heart

Good Conduct Medal (Marine Corps)

China Service Medal

American Defense Medal

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/1 star

American Defense Medal

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Medal of Honor Citation:

The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to

SERGEANT CLYDE THOMASON

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE

for service as set forth in the following CITATION:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while a member of the Second Marine Raider Battalion in action against the Japanese-held island of Makin on August 17–18, 1942. Landing the advance element of the assault echelon, Sergeant Thomason disposed his men with keen judgment and discrimination and by his exemplary leadership and great personal valor, exhorted them to like fearless efforts. On one occasion, he dauntlessly walked up to a house which concealed an enemy Japanese sniper, forced in the door and shot the man before he could resist. Later in the action, while leading an assault on enemy position, he gallantly gave up his life in the service of his country. His courage and loyal devotion to duty in the face of grave peril were in keeping with the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

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Marines interred within section 60 grave, 8036:

FMI Vernon L Castle

CPL JH Earles

PFC William A Gallagher

CPL Daniel S Gaston

PFC Ashley W Hicks

CAPT Gerald A Holtom

CPL Kenneth K Kunkel

CPL Harris J Johnson

PVT Carlye O Larson

CPL Edward Maciejewski

PVT Robert B Maulding

PFC Kenneth M Montgomery

PFC Norman W Mortensen

PVT Franklin M Nodlond

CPL Robert B Pearson

PVT Charles L Shelby

SGT Clyde Thomason

PFC John E Vandenberg

CPL Mason O. Yarbrough

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As part of the Stories Behind the Stars Project, this story documents the life of an American hero of World War II. SBTS is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3. https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/ Can you help write these stories? These stories will be accessible via a smartphone app at any war memorial or cemetery. If you notice any information in this profile that is erroneous or you have additional information to contribute, please get in touch with me at thomaslapadula@gmail.com. Stories Behind the Stars contributing writer: Thomas La Padula.

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Sources:

Ancestry.com

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/47155599/person/25791481363/facts?_phsrc=Goj149&_phstart=successSource

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/11604953:1089

https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=Clyde+A_Thomason&pg=2&birth=1914_Georgia&death=1942_Maikin-Island&count=50

Fold3.com

https://www.fold3.com/record/530003685/clyde-thomason-us-american-battle-monuments-commission-1914-1950

https://www.fold3.com/record/643121405/clyde-thomason-us-marine-corps-casualty-indexes-19401958

https://www.fold3.com/image/712951818?rec=641837945

Newspapers.com

https://www.newspapers.com/image/397965632/?focus=0.6157483,0.7358715,0.7349559,0.8622405&xid=3355&_gl=1%2a1vovg42%2a_gcl_aw%2aR0NMLjE2OTU1ODY2OTMuQ2owS0NRand2TC1vQmhDeEFSSXNBSGtPaXUza1FaMXBQUi1fN3VISnRyTXR3NE5wSk1NSlJnLS1tdE5SdC1ia3NKZjl5UTJoQ050cnlDWWFBcnlZRUFMd193Y0I.%2a_gcl_dc%2aR0NMLjE2OTU1ODY2OTMuQ2owS0NRand2TC1vQmhDeEFSSXNBSGtPaXUza1FaMXBQUi1fN3VISnRyTXR3NE5wSk1NSlJnLS1tdE5SdC1ia3NKZjl5UTJoQ050cnlDWWFBcnlZRUFMd193Y0I.%2a_gcl_au%2aNTg3NTk1ODczLjE2OTM4NTY2OTM.%2a_ga%2aMTM0NjkwNTk2Ny4xNjkzODU2Njk0%2a_ga_4QT8FMEX30%2aYTkxMDRmOWItZTdmMi00ZDc4LTg5MDItOGIzMDQxNjE5MzJhLjIwLjEuMTY5NTc3MzA2MC41OS4wLjA.%2a_ga_LMK6K2LSJH%2aYTkxMDRmOWItZTdmMi00ZDc4LTg5MDItOGIzMDQxNjE5MzJhLjE3LjEuMTY5NTc3MzA2MC4wLjAuMA..&_ga=2.230132762.702469685.1695772049-1346905967.1693856694&_gac=1.224942696.1695586695.Cj0KCQjwvL-oBhCxARIsAHkOiu3kQZ1pPR-_7uHJtrMtw4NpJMMJRg--mtNRt-bksJf9yQ2hCNtryCYaAryYEALw_wcB&clipping_id=132484169

Other

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_A._Thomason

https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/clyde-a-thomason

https://www.usmcu.edu/Research/Marine-Corps-History-Division/Information-for-Units/Medal-of-Honor-Recipients-By-Unit/Sgt-Clyde-Thomason/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Makin_Island

https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/npswapa/extcontent/usmc/pcn-190-003130-00/sec4.htm

https://pacificwrecks.com/people/veterans/thomason/index.html

https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/clyde-a-thomason

Thomason, Clyde Aristide Jr, SGT, USMC, 246433