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Remembering World War II
Name: Thomas E Thompson Rank: Private 1st Class Service Number: 31320923 Service: 72nd Engineer Company (Light Ponton), US Army Date of Birth: August 5, 1923 Place of Birth: Charleston, Queens Co., Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: March 23, 1943 Age at Enlistment: 19 Place of Enlistment: Portland, Maine Address at Enlistment: Cumberland, Maine Trade: Driver Marital Status: Single (at enlistment) Religion: Protestant Next of Kin: Mother Date of Death: April 27, 1945 Age: 21 Cemetery: Forest City Cemetery, South Portland, Maine Thomas E Thompson was the son of John Edwin Thompson (1901-1940) and Maude Thelma (Baker) Thompson (1902-1957). His father was born in River Head, Nova Scotia; his mother – in Charleston, Queens County, NS. His parents married December 21, 1921 in Liverpool, NS. The family moved to Maine during the 1920’s. Thomas’ father died sometime in 1940 and her mother re- married Austin Winston Davis of Machias, Maine. Thomas enlisted March 23, 1943 in Portland, Maine. Less than 7 months later, his step-father enlisted also enlisted in Portland on October 11, 1943. Thomas married Billie D. Stevens while on furlough on December 16, 1943. Thomas’ unit the 72nd Engineer Company, was redesignated the 72d Engineer Light Ponton Company, or ‘72nd Engineer Company (Light Ponton)’ on April 1, 1942 until after the war. It was a combat engineer company of the US Army; primarily a highly mobile pontoon bridge construction unit, though it also provided both M2 assault boats and a selection of infantry support bridging, ferries, and rafts. Private 1st Class Thomas E. Thompson died in Germany on April 27, 1945. Thomas’s body was repatriated to the United States and he was laid to rest in the Forest City Cemetery in South Portland, Maine. Of the approximate 280000 American WWII dead, over 170000 were repatriated under the “Return of the Dead” Program (Families could leave remains abroad in a permanent overseas cemetery maintained in perpetuity by the American Battle Monuments Commission, have them returned home at the government’s expense for burial in a private or national cemetery, or have them sent to a foreign country for burial if it was the homeland of the deceased or family). Thomas’ step-father, Private Austin Winston Davis, was killed in Action September 20, 1944, during the Second World War serving with the 313th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division, United States Army. The 313th was crossing the Meurthe River into Lunéville and Moncel (Moncel-les-Luneville), France on September 20, 1944. Austin Davis is buried in the Lorraine American Cemetery in France (Plot J, Row 22, Grave 11). The 313th was crossing the Meurthe River into Lunéville and Moncel (Moncel-les-Luneville), France on September 20, 1944.
Thomas E Thompson
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