Name: Thomas Douglas McKay Rank: Captain Service Number: O-411412 Service: 2nd Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, US Army Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG Corps) Date of Birth: December 16, 1914 Place of Birth: Rutland, Rutland Co., Vermont Date of Enlistment: 1941 Place of Enlistment: Unknown Address at Enlistment: Unknown Age at Enlistment: 27 Occupation: Attorney Marital Status: Married Next of Kin: Mrs. Helena McKay (Wife) Date of Death: March 12, 1944 Age: 29 Cemetery: Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial, Cambridgeshire, England Grave: Plot F, Row 7, Grave 41 Thomas Douglas McKay was the son of Thomas W. McKay (1884-1934) and Cora Edna (Groggett) McKay (1889- 1959), and the brother of Margaret Jean (McKay) Levins (1913-1977), and Richard C. McKay (1916–1983). Both his parents were from Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. His father was born in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, and his mother, in Springhill, Nova Scotia. They emigrated in 1910 and settled in Vermont. Douglas was the husband of Helena Patricia (Bracken) McKay (1922-1996), and father of Thomas Joseph McKay (b. 1943) and Ricardo Andrew McKay (1944-2022). Douglas grew up in Rutland and was educated at Mount St. Joseph's grade school and Rutland High School. He graduated from Jesuit institutions, undergraduate at Fordham University, in the Bronx, New York and Georgetown University School of Law in Washington, DC. Following his admission to the Vermont Bar, he practiced law in Rutland and began training with the Vermont National Guard. He enlisted with Company A of the Guard in November of 1940, and later enlisted for active service in World War II, after the US entered the war in December 1941. His training as an Army JAG officer including training at Camp Blanding in Florida, and Camp Shelby in Mississippi. At Shelby he was made assistant trial judge advocate for the 43rd Division, general court martial. Transferred to another Division, he also served at Camp Swift and Camp Sam Houston in Texas. On November 28, 1942, he was promoted to the rank of Captain. Captain McKay was subsequently deployed to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland as part of the overseas buildup. While stationed abroad, he fell seriously ill with meningitis and underwent surgery for mastoiditis. Following a period of convalescence, he relocated to England to await medical repatriation to the United States. However, he suffered a severe relapse requiring emergency neurosurgery and died on March 12, 1944. The family chose not to repatriate his remains, and he was interred at the Cambridge American Cemetery in Cambridgeshire, England.

WWII Index

Sources: findagrave honorstates.org