ACHIEVEMENTS

Thomas enlisted in United States Navy Reserves at Kansas City’s Naval Recruiting office on September 18, 1941.  Transferring to the Marine Corps Aviation Unit, he began his training at the Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Texas.   Attending an accelerated flight training program, he soon advanced to Second Lieutenant.

A couple months later, he reported to the Naval Air Station in Miami, Florida for advanced flight training.  Following completion of pre-operational training in Dec. 1942, he was assigned to the 4th Marine Aircraft Base Defense Wing, operating in the Pacific.


In February of 1943, Thomas ferried his assigned F4F-4 over to Naval Air Station Pearl Harbor on Ford Island.  From here, aircraft and pilots were loaded aboard the USS Nassau to be transported to the South Pacific.  After twelve days at sea, all aircraft, with their pilots, were catapulted off the Nassau.  They flew for 2 ½ hours to Turtle Bay on Espiritu Santo Island, at that time the Marines’ main base in the New Hebrides.

In March, the pilots were introduced to their new fighters, the Vought F4U-1 Corsair, as it came into service for the first time.  Although larger than the Wildcats and considered unsuitable on aircraft carriers, the maneuverable Corsairs could obtain tremendous speed.  According to fellow pilot Edward Shaw, the Corsair could “outfight any Jap plane that ever got in the sky.”

Jack was transferred to the Marine Fighting Squadron 213 referred to as the VMF-213.  Serving as a fighter pilot with this group throughout the war, he also flew the F4F-4’s, a heavier plane with folding wings to store better on aircraft carriers.  On May 6, 1943, Jack test-flew one of the Corsairs to a remarkable altitude of 35,000 feet.

After some early confusion during the switchover to Corsairs, operations were begun in earnest from Henderson Field in April.  The squadrons went into battle having had less than ten hours flying experience in their new planes.

While learning the geography of the Solomons, typical missions involved escorting bombers up to the enemy stronghold of Bougainville.  Jack’s squadron moved up to Guadalcanal, flying regular combat missions, sometimes two per day.  They made more than 100 strikes against numerous installations around New Georgia, Kolumbangori and Bouganville.

For action against an enemy Japanese force in the Solomon Island area from June 18th to July 18th, 1943, Thomas was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.  The citation accompanying this award read: “Separated from his flight of Corsairs during an engagement with fifteen enemy Zeros, 1st Lieutenant Thomas unhesitatingly launched a daring attack on seven of the Japanese fighters, and despite overwhelming odds, maneuvered his plane with such skill and fierce determination that he destroyed four of the hostile craft.

“Later, he contributed greatly to the success of a strafing raid on an enemy cargo ship which was left burning and sinking.  On another occasion when his flight of four fighters intercepted a large formation of enemy bombers and zeros, he sent one bomber and one fighter crashing in flames and, cleverly avoiding an attacking Zero, maneuvered into striking position and destroyed a third hostile plane.”

At the end of the squadron’s first tour of duty came six weeks rest and recuperation in Sidney, Australia.  Then, in June, Thomas ferried an F4U-1 formation of eight more pilots to the “Bevy” airstrip on Guadalcanal, taking nearly four hours.  From here, they flew support for the landing of ground troops in New Georgia, a well-known operation remembered as Operation Toenails under the command of Vice Admiral William F. Halsey.

It was during this second combat tour that the squadron dubbed themselves “The Hellhawks,” after the native hawks flying over Guadalcanal.

Of the original group of about thirty pilots sent out from Hawaii for combat duty, there were only ten left after the first duty.  They didn’t pick up replacements until the third tour so there was about three or four months where the ten of them were doing to job of thirty.

With a hunter’s sense of instantly taking in his surroundings and assessing the situation, Jack became an aggressive, risk-taking spirit with unmatched skills in gunnery.  Referred to as “Tail-end Charley” the sharp-eyed wingman, he flew six missions over Malaita and Segi in the New Georgia’s as the division leader’s wingman, a most enviable position.

On one mission, his engine quit when it was hit and lost all the oil; he went down with his plane about ten miles off Japanese-held territory, barely managing to get his lifeboat open and clear.  He paddled for five hours to keep free of enemy positions. Picked up after ten hours, only three days later he was returned to his squadron just in time to make another flight.  In total, he crashed planes four times during the war, twice on land and twice over the Pacific, surviving each time.

After a time of reorganization and training back in the United States, Jack’s squadron headed back to the war in September 1944, on board the Ticonderoga.  Arriving in Pearl Harbor, they were assigned to the USS Essex along with the VMF-124 squadron, becoming the first Marine squadrons to augment air groups during the war.

Marines had flown from carriers since the 1930s, but had never been permanent members of the air groups for political, and occasionally tactical, reasons.  By 1944, however, Marine fighter squadrons were flying from several ships, especially small escort carriers. By this time, the F4U Corsair had been cleared to operate from the American flattops.

On January 7th, Thomas led a target combat air patrol over northern Luzon in exceptionally foul weather.  The group became separated, with three members reported missing in action.  Two others were rescued after forced landings when their fuel became exhausted.  Thomas alone found Aparri airfield and strafed it with machine-gun fire.

Leading another patrol on January 21st, 15 planes on Tsuina airfield were strafed, one of which Thomas burned.  Returning to the Essex with low fuel, they were in the process of landing when attacked by enemy forces.  Thomas and another pilot were forced to land aboard the USS Enterprise instead, but not before Thomas had shot a burst at the enemy.

The invasion of Okinawa began in April of 1945.  The two squadrons aboard the Essex participated in action against Lingayen, Luzon, Formosa, Tokyo, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.

One of Jack’s better known exploits occurred during the first day of carrier raids on Tokyo.  Thomas led a squadron of three Corsairs over the southern part of the city, daring the Japanese to “come upstairs” and fight.  When four of them accepted the challenge, Thomas personally shot down two of them, while his mates took care of the other two.

During this third tour of duty, Jack scored two more kills in a mission over Tokyo in February.  This brought his official count to 18 ½ Jap planes, plus four other probable hits, as well as 113 enemy ships, making Thomas the 7th best flying ace in the Marine Corps for both World War II and the Korean War.

At the end of the war Thomas continued to fly, with a group called “The Navy’s Flying Might.”   After the war, the government needed money to finance the bringing back of people and equipment that was over and beyond the current war bond.  The Navy recruited those pilots who had seen a lot of action as a booster squadron flying in aerial shows.

A temporary organization, they would simulate attacks and perform tricky maneuvers for crowds gathered for the air show.  No admission was charged, but those purchasing war bonds were permitted to walk through the display of planes after the flying.  Thomas achieved some fame throughout the country doing aerobatics in the F7F Tigercat twin-engine fighter.

Jack Thomas remained in the Marine Corp, stationed in Southern California doing what he loved to do until the time of his death.


AWARDS, RECOGNITION

Captain Jack Thomas received many decorations during his tours of duty.  For his efforts as a fighter pilot, he was awarded the Navy Cross, two Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals, as well as the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal.

An exhibit in his honor was featured at the Santa Monica Museum of Flight.  He is honored in another exhibit in the Fighter Pilots Hall of Fame in Phoenix, AZ.

When the El Dorado airport was moved to its present site, it was known as the El Dorado Municipal Airport.  In 1985, through the efforts of the El Dorado American Legion Post No. 81 and interested citizens, it was renamed the El Dorado / Captain Wilbur Jackson Thomas Memorial Airport.  The official ceremony was held on Veterans Day, Nov. 11th.  “El Dorado” was kept on the front of the name in keeping with Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

During the ceremony honoring this top ace, Kansas Governor Robert Docking said that it was “fitting that Veteran’s Day and the (210th) birthday of the American Marine Corps provide a background for the renaming of the El Dorado airport.  The dedication of our armed services is seen clearly in men like Jack Thomas, who certainly did his part to protect and enhance the freedoms that we now enjoy.”

In a special supplement published by the El Dorado Times on Nov. 8, 1985, a letter of commendation honoring Captain Thomas was reprinted, signed by President Harry S. Truman, in grateful memory of one who died in the service of his country.


BIBLIOGRAPHY / FURTHER READING

Lawrence P. Klintworth, True Tales of the Kingdom of Butler; BCHS, El Dorado, KS, 1981; pp 138

R. A. Clymer, Farewells; BCHS, El Dorado, Kansas, 1986; pp 119, 120

Family Files, Clymer Research Library; BCHS, El Dorado, KS – ORIGINALS IN ARCHIVES

Subject Files, Clymer Research Library; BCHS, El Dorado, KS

Polk’s El Dorado City Directory – 1937; R. L. Polk & Co., Kansas City, MO; pp 135

The El Doradoan, El Dorado High School; El Dorado, KS, 1938

The Grizzly Growl, El Dorado Junior College; El Dorado, KS, 1939

The Grizzly Growl, El Dorado Junior College; El Dorado, KS, 1941

The El Dorado Times, Jan. 31, 1947; The Times Press, El Dorado, KS; pp 1, 8

The El Dorado Times, Feb. 1, 1947; The Times Press, El Dorado, KS; pp 1

www.ourecho.com

www.nps.gov

dwp.bigplanet.com

www.vought.com

www.acepilots.com

www.airgroup4.com

www.scuttlebuttsmallshow.com

www-personal.ksu.edu

www.b26.com

www.lasr.net

www.toonopedia.com

www.demolay.org

BCHS previous exhibit materials; Collections, BCHS, El Dorado, KS.