Captain Thomas Gantz Cassady was a patriot who served his nation in two World Wars and was successful in business during peacetime.
Cassady graduated from Chicago University and went to France in the Ambulance Corps during Christmas break, in 1916. Once there, on 3 February 1917, he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion and transferred to aviation. By July 1917, he was receiving flight training; on 6 October 1917, Sergeant Cassady was brevetted a pilot. On 26 December 1917, he was assigned to Escadrille 157, which was a Spad unit. He passed on to the United States Army Air Service in February 1918 to serve in the 103rd Aero Squadron. From there, he was once again posted to another French Spad unit, Escadrille 163. While serving here, he scored a run of five confirmed and three unconfirmed aerial victories, between 28 May and 15 August 1918, sharing them with William Ponder and James Connelly, among others. He then transferred to the 28th Aero Squadron as a Flight Commander and scored four more times between 14 September and 27 October 1918 using a Spad XIII, and sharing the honors with Martinus Stenseth and George W. Furlow among others. Awards - Distinguished Service Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, French Legion d'Honneur, and Croix de Guerre.
During World War II, Cassady served with the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, making four spying trips into Vichy France. He was subsequently captured by the Germans in 1942 and freed. He then worked with the OSS in Algiers on the invasion of southern France. The liberation of Paris brought Cassady the opportunity to be in charge of all intelligence activities there.
Cassady died of cancer on 9 July 1972.
Biography source - Wikipedia.org
From: The National Cyclopedia of American Biography (Published 1977)
Cassady, Thomas Gantz, a business executive, was born in Owen County, Indiana, on January 5, 1896, son of Ezra and Alice (Gantz) Cassady. His father was a postal employee.
Thomas G. Cassady received his early education and public schools in Spencer, Indiana, and attended the University of Chicago during 1914 -1916. He left college in the latter year to participate in a military capacity with both French and United States forces during the First World War. On his return to civilian life in 1919, Cassady began a career in investment banking as an employee in the office in Minneapolis Minnesota, of Halsey Stuart & Co., Chicago Illinois. In 1921 he was transferred to the company's main office, remaining there until he joined the Chicago office of George H. Burr & Co., New York City. In 1926, he left the latter firm to become a founder of the investment firm of McGowan, Cassady & White, Chicago. The firm was dissolved in 1941 after this country entered into the Second World War. The firm also had an office in Detroit, Michigan. In 1945, after wartime service, Cassady became a partner of Farwell, Chapman & Co., another Chicago investment Company. He left the firm in 1953 when he was persuaded by the president of Whirlpool Corp, to undertake the purchase and management of the American Wringer Co. in Waterloo Iowa, a plant that supplied parts for washing machines produced by Whirlpool and others. In the transaction, Sears, Roebuck, & Co., Whirlpool, and Cassady each acquired a third interest in the company, which was named Chamberlain Manufacturing Co. Subsequently, the company's headquarters were moved to Elmhurst, Illinois. Cassady was chairman of the executive committee and a director of the company at the time of his death. The company came to manufacture aluminum and steel refrigerator shelves, aluminum awnings, ordnance ammunition items, machine tools, carports, storm windows and doors, garage doors and electric garage door openers, and industrial parts. At one time he was also director of Liberty National Bank in Chicago.
His first military activity during the First World War was with the American Field Service& in France for which he drove an ambulance for several months. In the spring of 1917, he joined the French Foreign Legion, but shortly thereafter he requested and received a transfer to the French flying service, attending aviation school. In December 1917, he was sent to the front to fly a Spad airplane with the French Pursuit Squadron 157. In February 1918 he was transferred to the U.S. Army and commissioned 1st lieutenant in the Air Section, Signal Corps, although he continued to fly with the French until September 1918 as a member of Spad Squadron 163. He was then made flight commander of U.S. Squadron 28, 3rd Pursuit group, attached to the Lafayette Flying Corps of the French army, and served in this capacity until after the armistice in November. Early in 1919, he was separated from the service in the rank of captain.
On the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that precipitated United States entry into the Second World War, Cassady was summoned to Washington by the U.S. Secretary of the Navy, and he arrived here on December 8, 1941, the day the U.S. Congress declared war upon Japan. Advised that he was recommended by the French military leaders to work with the French underground movement because of this knowledge of the French people and their language, he was commissioned lieutenant commander and sent to France and made his headquarters at Vichy, ostensibly as a naval attaché for air under the American ambassador to the Vichy government, although he worked there as an undercover agent until November 1942, when Vichy was occupied by the German army. He early established in association with the Office of Strategic Service (OSS), with headquarters in London, England. This was accomplished at a meeting in Lisbon, Portugal where he learned that in association with the French underground, he would work out escape routes for Allied bomber pilots who were shot down and hiding in France. During his Vichy service, Cassady made four extensive trips into occupied France. When Vichy was occupied by the Germans, Cassady was taken prisoner and was held for 13 months in a hotel in Baden Baden. Returned to the United States in February 1944 as part of the mass exchange of diplomatic personnel between Germany and Brazil, he was sent almost immediately to Algiers by the OSS and placed in charge of Operation Medusa, a plan to send infiltrators into Southern France in advance of the American invasion of that area. After the occupation of Paris by the Allies, Cassady was sent there and placed in charge of all secret intelligence for France and Germany. He remained in charge of that work until retiring from the Navy in September 1945. During the First World War Cassady was credited with the destruction of nine German planes, a record that made him one of the aces of the war, and for his service he was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with three palms and two gold stars, and he was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honor of France. The United States honored him with the Distinguished Service Cross with oak leaf cluster. For his Second World War Service, he was awarded the US Legion of Merit and made a commander of the Legion of Honor of France. Cassady was a member of the Onwentsia Country Club of Lake Forest, Illinois, the Army and Navy Club of Washington, D.C. and the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce. His religious affiliation was with the Methodist church. Politically he was a Republican. Gardening and fishing were among his recreations. He was married in Excelsior, Minnesota September 1, 1925, to Elizabeth, daughter of Perry and Miriam (Thomas) Harris of Minneapolis. Thomas G. Cassady died without issue in Lake Forest, Illinois July 7, 1972.
Cassady graduated from Chicago University and went to France in the Ambulance Corps during Christmas break, in 1916. Once there, on 3 February 1917, he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion and transferred to aviation. By July 1917, he was receiving flight training; on 6 October 1917, Sergeant Cassady was brevetted a pilot. On 26 December 1917, he was assigned to Escadrille 157, which was a Spad unit. He passed on to the United States Army Air Service in February 1918 to serve in the 103rd Aero Squadron. From there, he was once again posted to another French Spad unit, Escadrille 163. While serving here, he scored a run of five confirmed and three unconfirmed aerial victories, between 28 May and 15 August 1918, sharing them with William Ponder and James Connelly, among others. He then transferred to the 28th Aero Squadron as a Flight Commander and scored four more times between 14 September and 27 October 1918 using a Spad XIII, and sharing the honors with Martinus Stenseth and George W. Furlow among others. Awards - Distinguished Service Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, French Legion d'Honneur, and Croix de Guerre.
During World War II, Cassady served with the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, making four spying trips into Vichy France. He was subsequently captured by the Germans in 1942 and freed. He then worked with the OSS in Algiers on the invasion of southern France. The liberation of Paris brought Cassady the opportunity to be in charge of all intelligence activities there.
Cassady died of cancer on 9 July 1972.
Biography source - Wikipedia.org
From: The National Cyclopedia of American Biography (Published 1977)
Cassady, Thomas Gantz, a business executive, was born in Owen County, Indiana, on January 5, 1896, son of Ezra and Alice (Gantz) Cassady. His father was a postal employee.
Thomas G. Cassady received his early education and public schools in Spencer, Indiana, and attended the University of Chicago during 1914 -1916. He left college in the latter year to participate in a military capacity with both French and United States forces during the First World War. On his return to civilian life in 1919, Cassady began a career in investment banking as an employee in the office in Minneapolis Minnesota, of Halsey Stuart & Co., Chicago Illinois. In 1921 he was transferred to the company's main office, remaining there until he joined the Chicago office of George H. Burr & Co., New York City. In 1926, he left the latter firm to become a founder of the investment firm of McGowan, Cassady & White, Chicago. The firm was dissolved in 1941 after this country entered into the Second World War. The firm also had an office in Detroit, Michigan. In 1945, after wartime service, Cassady became a partner of Farwell, Chapman & Co., another Chicago investment Company. He left the firm in 1953 when he was persuaded by the president of Whirlpool Corp, to undertake the purchase and management of the American Wringer Co. in Waterloo Iowa, a plant that supplied parts for washing machines produced by Whirlpool and others. In the transaction, Sears, Roebuck, & Co., Whirlpool, and Cassady each acquired a third interest in the company, which was named Chamberlain Manufacturing Co. Subsequently, the company's headquarters were moved to Elmhurst, Illinois. Cassady was chairman of the executive committee and a director of the company at the time of his death. The company came to manufacture aluminum and steel refrigerator shelves, aluminum awnings, ordnance ammunition items, machine tools, carports, storm windows and doors, garage doors and electric garage door openers, and industrial parts. At one time he was also director of Liberty National Bank in Chicago.
His first military activity during the First World War was with the American Field Service& in France for which he drove an ambulance for several months. In the spring of 1917, he joined the French Foreign Legion, but shortly thereafter he requested and received a transfer to the French flying service, attending aviation school. In December 1917, he was sent to the front to fly a Spad airplane with the French Pursuit Squadron 157. In February 1918 he was transferred to the U.S. Army and commissioned 1st lieutenant in the Air Section, Signal Corps, although he continued to fly with the French until September 1918 as a member of Spad Squadron 163. He was then made flight commander of U.S. Squadron 28, 3rd Pursuit group, attached to the Lafayette Flying Corps of the French army, and served in this capacity until after the armistice in November. Early in 1919, he was separated from the service in the rank of captain.
On the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that precipitated United States entry into the Second World War, Cassady was summoned to Washington by the U.S. Secretary of the Navy, and he arrived here on December 8, 1941, the day the U.S. Congress declared war upon Japan. Advised that he was recommended by the French military leaders to work with the French underground movement because of this knowledge of the French people and their language, he was commissioned lieutenant commander and sent to France and made his headquarters at Vichy, ostensibly as a naval attaché for air under the American ambassador to the Vichy government, although he worked there as an undercover agent until November 1942, when Vichy was occupied by the German army. He early established in association with the Office of Strategic Service (OSS), with headquarters in London, England. This was accomplished at a meeting in Lisbon, Portugal where he learned that in association with the French underground, he would work out escape routes for Allied bomber pilots who were shot down and hiding in France. During his Vichy service, Cassady made four extensive trips into occupied France. When Vichy was occupied by the Germans, Cassady was taken prisoner and was held for 13 months in a hotel in Baden Baden. Returned to the United States in February 1944 as part of the mass exchange of diplomatic personnel between Germany and Brazil, he was sent almost immediately to Algiers by the OSS and placed in charge of Operation Medusa, a plan to send infiltrators into Southern France in advance of the American invasion of that area. After the occupation of Paris by the Allies, Cassady was sent there and placed in charge of all secret intelligence for France and Germany. He remained in charge of that work until retiring from the Navy in September 1945. During the First World War Cassady was credited with the destruction of nine German planes, a record that made him one of the aces of the war, and for his service he was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with three palms and two gold stars, and he was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honor of France. The United States honored him with the Distinguished Service Cross with oak leaf cluster. For his Second World War Service, he was awarded the US Legion of Merit and made a commander of the Legion of Honor of France. Cassady was a member of the Onwentsia Country Club of Lake Forest, Illinois, the Army and Navy Club of Washington, D.C. and the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce. His religious affiliation was with the Methodist church. Politically he was a Republican. Gardening and fishing were among his recreations. He was married in Excelsior, Minnesota September 1, 1925, to Elizabeth, daughter of Perry and Miriam (Thomas) Harris of Minneapolis. Thomas G. Cassady died without issue in Lake Forest, Illinois July 7, 1972.
Captain Thomas Gantz Cassady was a patriot who served his nation in two World Wars and was successful in business during peacetime.
Cassady graduated from Chicago University and went to France in the Ambulance Corps during Christmas break, in 1916. Once there, on 3 February 1917, he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion and transferred to aviation. By July 1917, he was receiving flight training; on 6 October 1917, Sergeant Cassady was brevetted a pilot. On 26 December 1917, he was assigned to Escadrille 157, which was a Spad unit. He passed on to the United States Army Air Service in February 1918 to serve in the 103rd Aero Squadron. From there, he was once again posted to another French Spad unit, Escadrille 163. While serving here, he scored a run of five confirmed and three unconfirmed aerial victories, between 28 May and 15 August 1918, sharing them with William Ponder and James Connelly, among others. He then transferred to the 28th Aero Squadron as a Flight Commander and scored four more times between 14 September and 27 October 1918 using a Spad XIII, and sharing the honors with Martinus Stenseth and George W. Furlow among others. Awards - Distinguished Service Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, French Legion d'Honneur, and Croix de Guerre.
During World War II, Cassady served with the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, making four spying trips into Vichy France. He was subsequently captured by the Germans in 1942 and freed. He then worked with the OSS in Algiers on the invasion of southern France. The liberation of Paris brought Cassady the opportunity to be in charge of all intelligence activities there.
Cassady died of cancer on 9 July 1972.
Biography source - Wikipedia.org
From: The National Cyclopedia of American Biography (Published 1977)
Cassady, Thomas Gantz, a business executive, was born in Owen County, Indiana, on January 5, 1896, son of Ezra and Alice (Gantz) Cassady. His father was a postal employee.
Thomas G. Cassady received his early education and public schools in Spencer, Indiana, and attended the University of Chicago during 1914 -1916. He left college in the latter year to participate in a military capacity with both French and United States forces during the First World War. On his return to civilian life in 1919, Cassady began a career in investment banking as an employee in the office in Minneapolis Minnesota, of Halsey Stuart & Co., Chicago Illinois. In 1921 he was transferred to the company's main office, remaining there until he joined the Chicago office of George H. Burr & Co., New York City. In 1926, he left the latter firm to become a founder of the investment firm of McGowan, Cassady & White, Chicago. The firm was dissolved in 1941 after this country entered into the Second World War. The firm also had an office in Detroit, Michigan. In 1945, after wartime service, Cassady became a partner of Farwell, Chapman & Co., another Chicago investment Company. He left the firm in 1953 when he was persuaded by the president of Whirlpool Corp, to undertake the purchase and management of the American Wringer Co. in Waterloo Iowa, a plant that supplied parts for washing machines produced by Whirlpool and others. In the transaction, Sears, Roebuck, & Co., Whirlpool, and Cassady each acquired a third interest in the company, which was named Chamberlain Manufacturing Co. Subsequently, the company's headquarters were moved to Elmhurst, Illinois. Cassady was chairman of the executive committee and a director of the company at the time of his death. The company came to manufacture aluminum and steel refrigerator shelves, aluminum awnings, ordnance ammunition items, machine tools, carports, storm windows and doors, garage doors and electric garage door openers, and industrial parts. At one time he was also director of Liberty National Bank in Chicago.
His first military activity during the First World War was with the American Field Service& in France for which he drove an ambulance for several months. In the spring of 1917, he joined the French Foreign Legion, but shortly thereafter he requested and received a transfer to the French flying service, attending aviation school. In December 1917, he was sent to the front to fly a Spad airplane with the French Pursuit Squadron 157. In February 1918 he was transferred to the U.S. Army and commissioned 1st lieutenant in the Air Section, Signal Corps, although he continued to fly with the French until September 1918 as a member of Spad Squadron 163. He was then made flight commander of U.S. Squadron 28, 3rd Pursuit group, attached to the Lafayette Flying Corps of the French army, and served in this capacity until after the armistice in November. Early in 1919, he was separated from the service in the rank of captain.
On the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that precipitated United States entry into the Second World War, Cassady was summoned to Washington by the U.S. Secretary of the Navy, and he arrived here on December 8, 1941, the day the U.S. Congress declared war upon Japan. Advised that he was recommended by the French military leaders to work with the French underground movement because of this knowledge of the French people and their language, he was commissioned lieutenant commander and sent to France and made his headquarters at Vichy, ostensibly as a naval attaché for air under the American ambassador to the Vichy government, although he worked there as an undercover agent until November 1942, when Vichy was occupied by the German army. He early established in association with the Office of Strategic Service (OSS), with headquarters in London, England. This was accomplished at a meeting in Lisbon, Portugal where he learned that in association with the French underground, he would work out escape routes for Allied bomber pilots who were shot down and hiding in France. During his Vichy service, Cassady made four extensive trips into occupied France. When Vichy was occupied by the Germans, Cassady was taken prisoner and was held for 13 months in a hotel in Baden Baden. Returned to the United States in February 1944 as part of the mass exchange of diplomatic personnel between Germany and Brazil, he was sent almost immediately to Algiers by the OSS and placed in charge of Operation Medusa, a plan to send infiltrators into Southern France in advance of the American invasion of that area. After the occupation of Paris by the Allies, Cassady was sent there and placed in charge of all secret intelligence for France and Germany. He remained in charge of that work until retiring from the Navy in September 1945. During the First World War Cassady was credited with the destruction of nine German planes, a record that made him one of the aces of the war, and for his service he was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with three palms and two gold stars, and he was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honor of France. The United States honored him with the Distinguished Service Cross with oak leaf cluster. For his Second World War Service, he was awarded the US Legion of Merit and made a commander of the Legion of Honor of France. Cassady was a member of the Onwentsia Country Club of Lake Forest, Illinois, the Army and Navy Club of Washington, D.C. and the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce. His religious affiliation was with the Methodist church. Politically he was a Republican. Gardening and fishing were among his recreations. He was married in Excelsior, Minnesota September 1, 1925, to Elizabeth, daughter of Perry and Miriam (Thomas) Harris of Minneapolis. Thomas G. Cassady died without issue in Lake Forest, Illinois July 7, 1972.
Cassady graduated from Chicago University and went to France in the Ambulance Corps during Christmas break, in 1916. Once there, on 3 February 1917, he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion and transferred to aviation. By July 1917, he was receiving flight training; on 6 October 1917, Sergeant Cassady was brevetted a pilot. On 26 December 1917, he was assigned to Escadrille 157, which was a Spad unit. He passed on to the United States Army Air Service in February 1918 to serve in the 103rd Aero Squadron. From there, he was once again posted to another French Spad unit, Escadrille 163. While serving here, he scored a run of five confirmed and three unconfirmed aerial victories, between 28 May and 15 August 1918, sharing them with William Ponder and James Connelly, among others. He then transferred to the 28th Aero Squadron as a Flight Commander and scored four more times between 14 September and 27 October 1918 using a Spad XIII, and sharing the honors with Martinus Stenseth and George W. Furlow among others. Awards - Distinguished Service Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, French Legion d'Honneur, and Croix de Guerre.
During World War II, Cassady served with the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, making four spying trips into Vichy France. He was subsequently captured by the Germans in 1942 and freed. He then worked with the OSS in Algiers on the invasion of southern France. The liberation of Paris brought Cassady the opportunity to be in charge of all intelligence activities there.
Cassady died of cancer on 9 July 1972.
Biography source - Wikipedia.org
From: The National Cyclopedia of American Biography (Published 1977)
Cassady, Thomas Gantz, a business executive, was born in Owen County, Indiana, on January 5, 1896, son of Ezra and Alice (Gantz) Cassady. His father was a postal employee.
Thomas G. Cassady received his early education and public schools in Spencer, Indiana, and attended the University of Chicago during 1914 -1916. He left college in the latter year to participate in a military capacity with both French and United States forces during the First World War. On his return to civilian life in 1919, Cassady began a career in investment banking as an employee in the office in Minneapolis Minnesota, of Halsey Stuart & Co., Chicago Illinois. In 1921 he was transferred to the company's main office, remaining there until he joined the Chicago office of George H. Burr & Co., New York City. In 1926, he left the latter firm to become a founder of the investment firm of McGowan, Cassady & White, Chicago. The firm was dissolved in 1941 after this country entered into the Second World War. The firm also had an office in Detroit, Michigan. In 1945, after wartime service, Cassady became a partner of Farwell, Chapman & Co., another Chicago investment Company. He left the firm in 1953 when he was persuaded by the president of Whirlpool Corp, to undertake the purchase and management of the American Wringer Co. in Waterloo Iowa, a plant that supplied parts for washing machines produced by Whirlpool and others. In the transaction, Sears, Roebuck, & Co., Whirlpool, and Cassady each acquired a third interest in the company, which was named Chamberlain Manufacturing Co. Subsequently, the company's headquarters were moved to Elmhurst, Illinois. Cassady was chairman of the executive committee and a director of the company at the time of his death. The company came to manufacture aluminum and steel refrigerator shelves, aluminum awnings, ordnance ammunition items, machine tools, carports, storm windows and doors, garage doors and electric garage door openers, and industrial parts. At one time he was also director of Liberty National Bank in Chicago.
His first military activity during the First World War was with the American Field Service& in France for which he drove an ambulance for several months. In the spring of 1917, he joined the French Foreign Legion, but shortly thereafter he requested and received a transfer to the French flying service, attending aviation school. In December 1917, he was sent to the front to fly a Spad airplane with the French Pursuit Squadron 157. In February 1918 he was transferred to the U.S. Army and commissioned 1st lieutenant in the Air Section, Signal Corps, although he continued to fly with the French until September 1918 as a member of Spad Squadron 163. He was then made flight commander of U.S. Squadron 28, 3rd Pursuit group, attached to the Lafayette Flying Corps of the French army, and served in this capacity until after the armistice in November. Early in 1919, he was separated from the service in the rank of captain.
On the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that precipitated United States entry into the Second World War, Cassady was summoned to Washington by the U.S. Secretary of the Navy, and he arrived here on December 8, 1941, the day the U.S. Congress declared war upon Japan. Advised that he was recommended by the French military leaders to work with the French underground movement because of this knowledge of the French people and their language, he was commissioned lieutenant commander and sent to France and made his headquarters at Vichy, ostensibly as a naval attaché for air under the American ambassador to the Vichy government, although he worked there as an undercover agent until November 1942, when Vichy was occupied by the German army. He early established in association with the Office of Strategic Service (OSS), with headquarters in London, England. This was accomplished at a meeting in Lisbon, Portugal where he learned that in association with the French underground, he would work out escape routes for Allied bomber pilots who were shot down and hiding in France. During his Vichy service, Cassady made four extensive trips into occupied France. When Vichy was occupied by the Germans, Cassady was taken prisoner and was held for 13 months in a hotel in Baden Baden. Returned to the United States in February 1944 as part of the mass exchange of diplomatic personnel between Germany and Brazil, he was sent almost immediately to Algiers by the OSS and placed in charge of Operation Medusa, a plan to send infiltrators into Southern France in advance of the American invasion of that area. After the occupation of Paris by the Allies, Cassady was sent there and placed in charge of all secret intelligence for France and Germany. He remained in charge of that work until retiring from the Navy in September 1945. During the First World War Cassady was credited with the destruction of nine German planes, a record that made him one of the aces of the war, and for his service he was awarded the French Croix de Guerre with three palms and two gold stars, and he was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honor of France. The United States honored him with the Distinguished Service Cross with oak leaf cluster. For his Second World War Service, he was awarded the US Legion of Merit and made a commander of the Legion of Honor of France. Cassady was a member of the Onwentsia Country Club of Lake Forest, Illinois, the Army and Navy Club of Washington, D.C. and the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce. His religious affiliation was with the Methodist church. Politically he was a Republican. Gardening and fishing were among his recreations. He was married in Excelsior, Minnesota September 1, 1925, to Elizabeth, daughter of Perry and Miriam (Thomas) Harris of Minneapolis. Thomas G. Cassady died without issue in Lake Forest, Illinois July 7, 1972.
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