Son of John J. & Lena M. Thomas who resided in Smithville Flats, New York.

John served as a Staff Sergeant, 513th Parachute Infantry, 17th Airborne Division, U.S. Army during World War II.

He resided in Chenango County, New York prior to the war.

He enlisted in the Army on January 27, 1944 in Binghamton, New York. He was noted as being employed as a Farm Hand and also as Single, without dependents.

John was "Killed In Action" when the C-46D #44-77595 transport plane he was a passenger on was shot down by German Artillery during the war.

He was awarded the Purple Heart.

Service # 42121196

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C-46D #44-77595, which was assigned to the 47th Squadron, 313rd Troop Carrier Group, was transporting 34 paratroopers from Achiet, France with a destination of Wesel, Germany on a drop mission. The C-46 was hit by German Artillery and ended up crashing in Germany.

All 4 flight crew members and 24 paratroopers were killed. 11 paratroopers were able to parachute out before the crash.

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Those killed on C-46D #44-77595:

Badger, Herschel C ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, MO
Davis, Floyd C ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, GA
Dowda, Thomas B ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, FL
Fowler, Harold D ~ Pvt, Paratrooper, AL
Ginter, Louis B ~ Tec/4, Paratrooper, OH
Guarino, Joseph P ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, OH
Higuera, Louis G ~ Pvt, Paratrooper, AZ
Hirzel, George W ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, PA
Johnson, Dick D ~ Corp, Paratrooper, IA
Lombardi, Joseph A ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, MA
Lowinger, Milton ~ S/Sgt, Paratrooper, NY
Lundine, Homer W ~ T/Sgt, Flight Engineer, KS
Monk, Wesley J ~ T/Sgt, Paratrooper, AL
Monteleone, Gasper J ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, NY
Oliva, Frank J ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, PA
Patton, Paul J ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, TX
Payne, James E ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, NC
Phillips, Moorehead ~ 1st Lt, Pilot, PA
Power, Harold M ~ S/Sgt, Radio Operator, MS
Reft, John ~ T/5, Paratrooper, PA
Reinwald, Anthony J ~ Sgt, Paratrooper, IL
Rogers, Ronald D ~ Sgt, Paratrooper, AR
Rowe, William T Pfc, Paratrooper, TX
Sanford, William B ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, NJ
Simmons, William C ~ 1st Lt, Co-Pilot, NC
Skipper, Gilbert W ~ S/Sgt, Paratrooper, MD
Szwak, Raymond A ~ Pfc, Paratrooper, NJ
Thomas, John R ~ S/Sgt, Paratrooper, NY

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The 11 who parachuted out of this C-46 include:

Brelsford, Arthur B ~ Pvt
Chase, Homer B ~ T/4
Choate, Orell D ~ Pfc
Curran, Robert G ~ Pvt
Di Silvio, Armond ~ 1st Lt
Garcia, Tobias ~ Sgt
Jackson, D ~ Pvt
Malone, Bartholomew P ~ Pvt
Maturn, W R ~ T/4
Nelson, Donald L ~ Pfc
Tomlison, Lynn R ~ 1st Lt

Bio, listing, & Crew Report by:
Russell S. "Russ" Pickett

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