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Herbert Joseph Thomas Jr. (February 8, 1918 – November 7, 1943) was a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps and a Medal of Honor recipient for his heroic actions during World War II. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, but spent most of his childhood in South Charleston, West Virginia, where his family moved when he was seven years old. Thomas eventually went to Virginia Tech on an American football scholarship. In his senior year of 1940, he led his team in pass receptions and scoring, and all Virginia college players in scoring. He would go on to be named to the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame. Thomas left Virginia Tech in July 1941 to enlist in the Army Air Corps,〔(WWII Army Enlistment Records )〕 but transferred to the Marines because many of his friends were in that branch of service. Sergeant Thomas was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during combat versus Japanese forces on the battle of Koromokina Lagoon (on November 7, 1943). Thomas attempted to disable a machine gun post with a hand grenade. However, the grenade bounced off the jungle flora and fell back to his position. He immediately leaped onto the grenade to save the lives of his men, who went on to destroy the enemy machine gun. ==Namesake== A United States Navy destroyer, the , was named in his honor. The destroyer was launched on March 25, 1945 and commissioned on May 29, 1945. The Thomas Memorial Hospital (now part of Thomas Health System) in South Charleston, West Virginia, is also named in his honor. Thomas Hall, a dormitory on the upper quad at Virginia Tech is named in his honor. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Herbert Joseph Thomas」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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