Person:Edward Thomas (60)

Edward Benny Thomas

• Azalia McGranahan Thomas of Sandy, Utah. Letters of Correspondence with Patrick Lawrence Hogue (Samples) of Weed, California. (17 Jan 1996; 14 Feb 1996; 22 Feb 1996; 24 Feb 1996).^S1

Edward was named for his step-grandfather, Edward Allen Killian. Attended public schools in Raton, New Mexico, and attended college for one year at the University of Colorado. Attended University of New Mexico but enlisted in the Navy in the summer of 1942. Attended Torpedo School, but in a session of skeet shooting (they thought it was for fun), his score was so high that he was immediately enrolled in Aerial Gunnery School - - where one of his instructors was the actor, Robert Stack.^S1

He was assigned to PBY Sqdn. And stationed in Kodiak, Alaska, for some months and in the early summer of 1943 was assigned first to VB 137 and shortly transferred to VB 144 which was just being organized. During a brief training period in the PV-1s (see Lockheed Ventura) which they were to fly, he and his girl-friend from New Mexico were married in Los Altos, California, where his aunt was living. The sqdn. Was sent to the Pacific in Oct. 1943 and in Nov. of that year his pilot was forced to “ditch” the plane. Theirs was the first crew to survive such a water landing. A passenger along for the ride went down with the plane, but the six-man crew survived by clinging to a two-man raft for 36 hours. They were picked up by a PT boat. After a year of service in the South Pacific, the squadron returned to the states and most of the personnel were assigned to other units. A small cadre of experienced men remained in the sqdn. Which was now called VPB 144. They were sent back to the Pacific after six months training in the newer PV-2s (see Lockheed Ventura) – much of that time at Whidbey Island, Washington. During his time in the states, he was joined by his wife, Azalia. In the spring of 1945, the sqdn. “shipped out” again and carried on with bombing and patrol runs until the end of the war.^S1

At the end of the war a point system came into effect for priorities in getting discharged. Ed was one of only a few enlisted men in his sqdn. With enough points for discharge immediately, but these men with the required number of points were simply turned loose to find their own way back stateside. Hitching rides around the South Pacific, they finally got aboard a troop ship bringing back Americans who had been prisoners of war of the Japanese.^S1

After his discharge, Ed returned to New Mexico and was employed by his father. All four children were born in Raton, New Mexico, but in 1954, the family business had obtained a construction contract in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and Ed and his family moved there so that he could run the business in that part of the state. After the children were grown, the business failed and after a couple of years of readjustment, Ed obtained work with Stearns-Roger, an industrial construction firm headquartered in Denver. H was hired as a Scheduler for work at the San Juan Generating Station near Farmington, New Mexico. Various projects at that site kept Ed and Azalia in Farmington, New Mexico for seven years.^S1

After that a smelter modification by Kennecott at Hurley, New Mexico, a thermal generating plant in northern California, a copper concentrator construction for Kennecott near Salt Lake City, a silver mine concentrator on Admiralty Island, Alaska (near Juneau) and additional construction management work at Kennecott back in the Salt Lake Valley has kept Ed and Azalia moving around.^S1

In 1993, Ed took his retirement from United Engineers & Construction (which had bought the company which was once Stearns-Roger) and signed a contract with Kennecott to work with contractors performing construction work for Kennecott. A smelter modernization was recently completed and a tailings pond modernization is now underway.^S1

1. ↑ Azalia McGranahan Thomas of Sandy, Utah. Letters of Correspondence with Patrick Lawrence Hogue (Samples) of Weed, California. (17 Jan 1996; 14 Feb 1996; 22 Feb 1996; 24 Feb 1996).

   Edward was named for his stepgrandfather, Edward Allen Killian. Attended public schools in Raton, New Mexico, and attended college for one year at the University of Colorado. Attended University of New Mexico but enlisted in the Navy in the summer of 1942. Attended Torpedo School, but in a session of skeet shooting (they thought it was for fun), his score was so high that he was immediately enrolled in Aerial Gunnery School - - where one of his instructors was the actor, Robert Stack.
   
   He was assigned to PBY Sqdn. And stationed in Kodiak, Alaska, for some months and in the early summer of 1943 was assigned first to VB 137 and shortly transferred to VB 144 which was just being organized. Durinng a brief training period in the PV-1s which they were to fly, he and his girl-friend from New Mexico were married in Los Altos, CA, where his aunt was living. The sqdn. Was sent to the Pacific in Oct. 1943 and in Nov. of that year his pilot was forced to “ditch” the plane. Theirs was the first crew to survive such a water landing. A passenger along for the ride went down with the plane, but the six-man crew survived by clinging to a two-man raft for 36 hours. They were picked up by a PT boat. After a year of service in the South Pacific, the squadron returned to the states and most of the personnel were assigned to other units. A small cadre of experienced men remained in the sqdn. Which was now called VPN 144. They were sent back to the Pacific after six months training in the newer PV-2s – much of that time at Whidbey Island, Washington. During his time in the states, he was joined by his wife, Azalia. In the spring of 1945, the sqdn. “shipped out” again and carried on with bombing and patrol runs until the end of the war.
   
   At the end of the war a point system came into effect for priorities in getting discharged. Ed was one of only a few enlisted men in his sqdn. With enough points for discharge immediately, but these men with the required number of points were simply turned loose to find their own way back stateside. Hitching rides around the South Pacific, they finally got aboard a troop ship bringing back Americans who had been prisoners of war of the Japanese.
   
   After his discharge, Ed returned to New Mexico and was employed by his father. All four children were born in Raton, New Mexico, but in 1954, the family business had obtained a construction contract in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and Ed and his family moved there so that he could run the business in that part of the state. After the children were grown, the business failed and after a couple of years of readjustment, Ed obtained work with Stearns-Roger, an industrial construction firm headquartered in Denver. H was hired as a Scheduler for work at the San Juan Generating Station near Farmington, New Mexico. Various projects at that site kept Ed and Azalia in Farmington for seven years.
   
   After that a smelter modification by Kennecott at Hurley, New Mexico, a thermal generating plant in northern California, a copper concentrator construction for Kennecott near Salt Lake City, a silver mine concentrator on Admiralty Island, Alaska (near Juneau) and additional construction management work at Kennecott back in the Salt Lake Valley has kept Ed and Azalia moving around.
   
   In 1993, Ed took his retirement from United Engineers & Construction (which had bought the company which was once Stearns-Roger) and signed a contract with Kennecott to work with contractors performing construction work for Kennecott. A smelter modernization was recently completed and a tailings pond modernization is now underway.

   
2.   Edward Benny Thomas, in Find A Grave.
3.   Azalia McGranahan Thomas. Transcribed Letters of Correspondence from Azalia Thomas to Patrick Hogue (Samples) - 1996.
   
4.   Patrick Hogue (Samples). The Samples / Semples Family.