WILLIS M. THOMAS, CDR, USN
Willis Thomas '31
Lucky Bag
From the 1931 Lucky Bag:
Willis Manning Thomas
Fresno, California
"Tommy "
Tommy, after deciding to leave sunny California, packed up all its sunshine-and brought it with him. That pleasant smile and friendly attitude of his may readily convince you of this fact. His manly character requires no length of time to gain for him everlasting friendships. One of his most striking traits is his natural ability to consider himself when and only when he has given the closest consideration to others. When you are in need of advice, when you are downhearted and need a few cheerful words, or when you have something to be done that is impossible for you to do, Tommy is the man for you. No one on earth can help you with a greater ability or a more perfect willingness.
Tommy is quite a philosopher. By expounding his theoretical and practical ideas he can easily make Socrates and the other boys listen with surprise. The philosophy of Tommy's life may be summed up in these few words: "Everything in moderation and nothing in excess."
Water Polo 4, 3, 2, 1; wNAp; Lacrosse 4; "31"; Class Swimming 4, 3, 2, "1931"; Three Stripes
Willis Manning Thomas
Fresno, California
"Tommy "
Tommy, after deciding to leave sunny California, packed up all its sunshine-and brought it with him. That pleasant smile and friendly attitude of his may readily convince you of this fact. His manly character requires no length of time to gain for him everlasting friendships. One of his most striking traits is his natural ability to consider himself when and only when he has given the closest consideration to others. When you are in need of advice, when you are downhearted and need a few cheerful words, or when you have something to be done that is impossible for you to do, Tommy is the man for you. No one on earth can help you with a greater ability or a more perfect willingness.
Tommy is quite a philosopher. By expounding his theoretical and practical ideas he can easily make Socrates and the other boys listen with surprise. The philosophy of Tommy's life may be summed up in these few words: "Everything in moderation and nothing in excess."
Water Polo 4, 3, 2, 1; wNAp; Lacrosse 4; "31"; Class Swimming 4, 3, 2, "1931"; Three Stripes
Loss
Willis was lost when USS Pompano (SS 181) was sunk, likely on September 17, 1944. He was the boat’s commanding officer.
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Willis graduated from Fresno High School where he had been captain of the school cadets. He enlisted in the navy as a seaman and was later sent to the naval preparatory school at San Diego. He then received appointment to the Naval Academy.
Willis married Alice Jessamine Bates on August 2, 1931, at the First Baptist church in Fresno. She also graduated from Fresno High School. Their daughters were Marjorie and Nancy.
His father was Benjamin Franklin Thomas, a railroad engineer on the Santa Fe, mother Fanny, sister Alice.
The Record Searchlight, Redding, California, March 13, 1943, reported that Willis was in command of a submarine that attacked and sank a small Japanese warship in the mid-Pacific.
The ship was an anti-submarine patrol vessel about the size of a corvette with a tonnage of under 1000 tons.
When lookouts sighted the ship, it was six miles off the port beam. Willis ordered the crew to battle stations and closed up on the Jap ship. At a distance of about two miles, the navy report said, the sub and the patrol craft both opened fire.
Shell after shell from the submarine’s back gun tore into the enemy hull. The Japanese poured fire from machine gun and light cannon, and a machine gun bullet fatally wounded crewman Herbert Calcaterra.
After 37 minutes of fighting the patrol ship sank.
From The Fresno Bee, April 15, 1943:
Lieutenant Commander Willis M. Thomas, 35, a former Fresnan and a veteran of 11 years’ service in the navy, describes his submarine crew as working together like a football team, the only difference being that if a man fumbles, “we lose our lives and not yardage.”
Holder of the coveted navy cross for action against the Japanese, Thomas has spent the past eight years in the submarine service and commands a submarine, with one of the longest combat service records. The sub has three war patrols behind her and tens of thousands of tons of sunken and damaged Japanese shipping in her logbook.
Have Seen Japan
More than once this undersea raider has prowled the death filled waters off Tokio in search of new conquests. Her men and officers know the silhouette of the land of the Rising Sun as seen through a periscope by day and from submarine’s bridge by night.
Often they have caught the scent of the wood fires or the newly plowed fields of Nippon, and, in a short time they will be on their way back for a fourth visit.
Clay Gowran, a war correspondent, describes in the May issue of Esquire his trip with the submarine crew on its last practice submersion before returning to enemy waters.
Skipper Satisfied
“The first dive satisfied the skipper,” writes Gowran, “for computation showed all three test torpedoes would have found their mark 1,400 yards away at the moment they fired.
On the second dive the coordination and skill of the crew was flawless. Then came the deep dive to test for leaks . . . the crew working like a well tuned machine.
12:15 . . . we drift without sound, sinking gradually as we lose away. 12:17 . . . as we reach 100 feet the annunciator bell clangs again as the skipper shifts the speed to all ahead full. 12:19 . . . a stream of seawater thick as a pencil finds its way through the packing of the periscope housing and hits the floor of the control room like a liquid bullet. 12:21 . . . the raider’s bow comes up and she slides silently forward at full speed submerged.
Air Is Thick
“This control room might be an office ashore except for the heat and thick air.
Thomas picks up the phone and announces in an annoyed voice there is a leak around the after capstan shaft, and another over the number four engine. Nobody seemed worried . . . just irked. They knew this would delay their departure on patrol.”
Willis has a memory marker in Arlington National Cemetery. His wife was listed as next of kin; he was also survived by at least one child (a daughter), per newspaper that was previously linked at https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/13242361/.
Photographs
From The Fresno Morning Republican on April 7, 1925
Career
From the now-broken link http://www.fleetorganization.com/subcommandersclassyear3.html:
- Duty USS Pompano (SS-181) 1 Jul 1939 - 1 Jul 1940
- Executive Officer USS Pompano (SS-181) 1 Nov 1940
- Staff Submarine Squadron Eight Mar 1942
- Captain USS Pompano (SS-181) 29 Jun 1942 - Sep 1943
He was promoted to Lieutenant on October 1, 1938 and to Lieutenant Commander on June 15, 1942.
From Hall of Valor:
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Lieutenant Commander Willis Manning Thomas (NSN: 0-70166), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. POMPANO (SS-181), during the FIRST War Patrol of that vessel in enemy controlled waters near the Japanese home islands during the period 19 July 1942 to 12 September 1942. Despite strong enemy countermeasures and unfavorable sea conditions, Lieutenant Commander Thomas took advantage of every opportunity to strike the enemy and in a series of skillfully conducted attacks succeeded in sinking a destroyer, a 900-ton patrol vessel, and 6,900 tons of merchant shipping without casualty to personnel of his own command. Lieutenant Commander Thomas' conduct throughout was an inspiration to his officers and men, and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the Naval Service.
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 313 (April 1943)
Service: Navy
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Silver Star
From Hall of Valor:
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Lieutenant Commander Willis Manning Thomas (NSN: 070166), United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. POMPANO (SS-181) during the SIXTH War patrol of that submarine in heavily patrolled enemy Japanese waters from 6 June to 28 July 1943. By his tenacity, skill, and excellent judgment, Lieutenant Commander Thomas succeeded in closing a strong enemy task force and inflicting severe damage on a SHOKAKU-Class aircraft carrier. His superb seamanship and great courage under fire were an inspiration to his officers and crew and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 313 (April 1943)
Service: Navy
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Bronze Star
He was also awarded the Bronze Star, but unable to find a citation.
Memorial Hall Error
Willis' memory marker in Arlington National Cemetery lists him as a Commander, as does the Courts of the Missing in Hawaii. Suspect posthumous promotion. Memorial Hall has LCDR. (Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps of 1945 also has LCDR. Have been unable to locate a 1946 edition of this document.)
The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.
The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.
The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.
July 1931
October 1931
January 1932
April 1932
October 1932
January 1933
April 1933
LTjg Theodore Marshall '24 (Observation Plane Squadron (VO) 4B)
LTjg Francis Jordan '29 (USS West Virginia)
ENS Philip Ashworth '31 (USS West Virginia)
ENS John Everett, Jr. '32 (USS West Virginia)
ENS John Speer '32 (USS West Virginia)
July 1933
ENS Philip Ashworth '31 (USS West Virginia)
ENS Ernest Hodge '32 (USS West Virginia)
ENS John Speer '32 (USS West Virginia)
ENS Ludwell Pickett, Jr. '33 (USS West Virginia)
October 1933
April 1934
LTjg Robert Germany, Jr. '30 (USS Pennsylvania)
ENS James Kemper '32 (USS Pennsylvania)
July 1934
October 1934
January 1935
April 1935
October 1935
January 1936
April 1936
April 1937
September 1937
LT Robert Bedilion '22
LT William Hobby, Jr. '23
LT Richard Baron '24
LT Richard Gingras '25
LT Harold Pound '25
LT William Graham, Jr. '25
LT Andrew Harris '25
LT Ralph Hickox '27
LTjg John Bermingham '29
January 1938
LT Robert Bedilion '22
LT William Hobby, Jr. '23
LT Richard Baron '24
LT Richard Gingras '25
LT Harold Pound '25
LT William Graham, Jr. '25
LT Andrew Harris '25
LT Ralph Hickox '27
LT John Bermingham '29
July 1938
LT William Hobby, Jr. '23
LT Richard Baron '24
LT Harold Pound '25
LT William Graham, Jr. '25
LT Andrew Harris '25
LT Hilan Ebert '26
LT John Bermingham '29
LT Egbert Roth '29
LT Victor Gaulin '30
LTjg Russell Ross '30
LT John Bisson '30
January 1939
LCDR Robert Bedilion '22
LCDR William Hobby, Jr. '23
LT Richard Baron '24
LT Harold Pound '25
LT William Graham, Jr. '25
LT Andrew Harris '25
LT Hilan Ebert '26
LT John Bermingham '29
LT Egbert Roth '29
LT Victor Gaulin '30
LT Russell Ross '30
June 1940
November 1940
April 1941
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
