6 Feb 1945 Embarked for overseas duty in France from Camp Meade, MD

14 Feb 1945 Mixed reports from War Department to parents Percy Thomas Sr. & Clara (Mills) Thomas. Missing in Action, then Killed in Action, then Prisoner of war stories, Captured died from wounds stories etc.

14-22 Feb 1945 Percy was killed in an explosion with other men, Saarbrucken, Germany, but this fact was not communicated by War Department to parents.

Percy's mother contacted other men in Percy's Unit and received the following accounts:

1) Leo Brisette, Rhode Island: Said he believed Percy and Henry Dempkey were killed when a booby trap blew up in a house in Saarbrücken, Germany.

She then contacted Henry Demkey's parents by mail and Henry himself responded:

2) Henry Demkey, Hesperia, Michigan: "Percy and I made a dash for another house. I am not sure, but I think Percy made it. They were shooting at us from all directions. I got a bullet in the back."

Then trough her Congressman, Mrs. Thomas was promised Army records would be re-checked. Major General Edward F. Witsell wrote:

"Technician Thomas was last seen wounded in a building that was subsequently taken by the enemy." Information received later, based on captured German records, disclosed that he died on 22 February 1945, in the vicinity of Saarbrücken, Germany."

The Percy's held a Memorial Service for their son, Percy in August 1945.

On November 8, 1946 Col. Wm. J. McDonald of the Quartermaster Corps. notified the parents that they failed to recover Percy's body. In contradiction, Major General T.B. Larkin the Quartermaster General wrote on January 23, 1947: "The records of this office disclose that the remains had been interred in the US military cemetery, St. Alveld near Metz, France, plot 0000, row 7, grave 156.

The family did not receive the remains until 1948, well after the above story with more detail and photos was published the the American Weekly Magazine, a full two page article written by Ray Doyle and Warren Hall. The American Weekly magazine was one of those Sunday Newspaper Inserts that was distributed in many major city newpapers across the USA.

When the skeletal remains were received by the parents, their sons identity was verified by dental records. Percy Thomas Sr. was a dentist.

Percy W Thomas Jr