A big thanks to Roger Enlow who recommended that his great uncle T. H. be recognized and remembered in this profile. Roger provided many of the details shared below.

T. H. McArthur was born on May 25, 1920 in Albany, Texas. His parents Tom and Daisy were also both born in Texas. His father worked as a ranch hand, and later as a farmer. His mother died in 1924. T. H. had one older sister, Alma. He graduated from Zephyr High School in 1937 where he was VP of the senior class as well as being elected “most popular”. He then went to Daniel Baker College where he studied for 2 years before enlisting.

He volunteered for the Army Air Corps in February 1941 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in October. He was assigned to the 55th Pursuit Group, 38th Pursuit Squadron in Portland. There the training began with the new P-38 Lightning in March 1942. In May, 1942 he was transferred to the new 95th Fighter Squadron, 82nd Fighter Group which was flying the P-38 at March Field, California. T. H. was promoted to first lieutenant in July. He was promoted again to captain in October 1942.

In July, 1942 the 82nd was sent overseas on the Queen Mary, eventually arriving in England in October. After training in England, the 82nd was sent to North Africa and Captain McArthur entered combat on December 25, 1942. The 82nd was headquartered in Algeria. He was promoted to Squadron Commander of the 95th on April 12, 1943.

On May 3, 1943, while on an escort mission, the weather turned bad and the mission was aborted and pilots were instructed to return to base. Low on fuel, Captain McArthur and two others landed at an RAF base in Algeria for re-fueling. After completion, he and the others attempted to take off in the bad weather in order to return to their base. Due to unfamiliarity of the terrain, all three crashed into the mountains surrounding the RAF base and were killed.

Overall Captain McArthur was credited with 5 enemy kills, making him one of the first American aces in the war against the Axis -- 4 German and 1 Italian planes, 1 other probable kill, as well as the sinking of a boat while on a skip bombing mission.

He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with 4 Oak Leaf Clusters.

His grave is at Goldthwaite Memorial Cemetery in Goldthwaite, Texas.

Thank you Captain McArthur for your sacrifice.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

T H McArthur