World War II Medal of Honor Recipient. An Ohio native, he was raised in South Charleston, West Virginia, graduating from high school there in 1936. After he attended Greenbrier Military School for a year, he went to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute on a football scholarship. Upon America's entry into World War II, he joined the Army Air Corps and then transferred to the U. S. Marines. He served as a Sergeant in the 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division. Thomas was awarded the Medal of Honor for action on November 7, 1943 at Koromokina River, Bougainville Island, Solomon Islands. He was killed in action. His citation reads in part, "Although several of his men were struck by enemy bullets as he led his squad through dense jungle undergrowth in the face of severe hostile machine-gun fire, Sgt. Thomas and his group fearlessly pressed forward into the center of the Japanese position and destroyed the crews of two machine guns by accurate rifle fire and grenades. Discovering a third gun more difficult to approach, he carefully placed his men closely around him in strategic positions from which they were to charge after he had thrown a grenade into the emplacement. When the grenade struck vines and fell back into the midst of the group, Sgt. Thomas deliberately flung himself upon it to smother the explosion, valiantly sacrificing his life for his comrades. Inspired by his selfless action, his men unhesitatingly charged the enemy machine gun and, with fierce determination, killed the crew and several other nearby-defenders." In addition to the Congressional Medal Of Honor, Sgt. Thomas was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Presidential Unit Citation, and Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal. A Gearing Class Navy Destroyer, DD-833, was named the USS Herbert J. Thomas. Initially buried in the U. S. Military Cemetery on Bougainville, his remains were re-interred in Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery in South Charleston on June 19, 1948. 70 years after his final burial, a Medal Of Honor military marker was dedicated on July 18, 2019.