George Edward Thomas, aged 92, passed away at West Valley Hospital in Caldwell, Idaho on 8 November 2021. George was born June 26, 1929 to Ora and Dolly Thomas in Havana, IL, the second youngest of 8 children.  His mother passed away when he was 3, and George, along with his siblings, moved to Carmi, Illinois and grew up in the Baptist Orphanage. He graduated from Carmi High School and joined the US Army Air Corps in 1946, later transferring to the US Air Force, where he served for 27 years before retiring to Idaho in 1973.  Amongst his many accomplishments in the military, his most proud moment was being a graduate of the first Pararescue class, which led to many a great adventure across the globe.  It was while serving his country he met his wife, Margaret, while stationed at Otis AFB, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and they were married on March 19, 1960.  They went on to have three Children, sons George Jr and William, and daughter Davi.  After retiring from the military, George went on to work in the agriculture industry where he retired for a second time from Idaho Crop Improvement in 1992.   An avid golfer and story teller, George remained active in the local community right up until his passing.  George is survived by his wife Margaret, sons George Jr (Pamela) and William (Wendy) and grandchildren Brandi (Justin) and George III.  He was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters, five brothers and his daughter, Davi.

Funeral services will take place at Dakan Funeral Home in Caldwell on Monday, January 10, 2022 at 10:30am, followed by a ceremony at the Idaho Veterans Cemetery at 1pm.

It was George’s wish that any memorial tributes be made in the form of charitable donations to either the Shriners Hospitals for Children or the Baptist Children’s Home in Carmi, Illinois.

Thank you.

Dad enlisted in the Army  31 Jul 1946.  I found a graduation certificate as an Enlisted Medical Technician dated 28 Feb 1947, and a graduation certificate from Airborne Course at Ft Benning dated 22 Jan 1948.  The Pararescue 50 years Plus book shows the first class started training in Jan and that the class graduated in March. I am not sure what the first class number was given.  The graduates are listed in the book and i have attached the page for your reference.

 

I recall stories of  assignments at Eglin, MacDill, McChord, Elmendorf, Okinawa, Libya, and Guam, among others but i can't recall which of these were PCS and which were TDY.  In going through some of his paperwork, I have found reference to the following on his 214's:

 

Flight C 2150 Rescue Unit, McChord Field, Jul 1949

48th Air Rescue Sqd, Maxwell AFB, Jan 1953

79 Air Rescue Sqd, Anderson AFB, Guam Mar 1959

 

I also have a certificate that shows him assigned to the 5th ARS April 1952. He earned his rating as a Master Parachutist March 1957 while assigned to 48th Airsqron (ARS-MATS) at Eglin.  He also has a letter of commendation written by Lt Gen Akiyama, Vice-Chief of Staff, Japanese Air Self Defense Force, thanking him for his contribution as part of the USAF Advisory Team that helped set up the ASDF Air Rescue and for there actual rescue of people trapped in a flood of the Tenryu River.  The team arrived at Hamamatsu Aug 1958

 

He was a PJ until around 1961 and his last PJ assignment was at Otis.  He was then cross trained over to Services.  Those assignments included Taegu Korea, Andrews AFB, RAF Feltwell, Malmstrom AFB, Bien Hoa AB,Vietnam, RAF Mildenhall and retired out of Mtn Home AFB. He retired 1 Apr 1973.  His last assignment was running the old Galaxy NCO club at RAF Mildenhall.

 

Hopefully this helps.  Please let me know if there is anything else you need.  I can also be reached on my cell, 208-695-7023.

 

V/r,

George Jr