Captain Wilbur “Jack” Thomas, El Dorado’s Marine Air Corps ace, was born Oct. 29, 1920. During World War II, he became nationally known as one of America’s heroes.

 

After attending local schools, Jack had just graduated from El Dorado’s Junior College in 1941 when he enlisted at the beginning of America’s involvement in the war.

 

Thomas served with the Marine Corps, becoming a top fighter pilot in the South Pacific. Called by a fellow flyer “one of the deadliest fighter pilots the Corps ever produced”, he scored most of his kills in a one-month period during the hotly contested landings on Rendova and Vangunu islands in mid-1944.

 

Captain Thomas survived the war but was killed on a routine flight when his plane crashed into a 4,200 ft. slope near Saddleback Mountain in California, on January 28, 1947, during a violent winter storm.

 

During his combat career, Thomas was awarded the Navy Cross and two Distinguished Flying Crosses. In 1985, the El Dorado Municipal Airport was renamed after Captain Thomas.