Thomas Meehan III
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Thomas Meehan III
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| File:Meehan506e.jpg | |
| Born | July 8, 1921 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. † Normandy, France |
| Place of burial | |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service/ |
 United States Army |
| Years of service | 1941-1944 |
| Rank |  First Lieutenant |
| Unit | Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | |
| Relations | -Anne (wife) -Barrie Meehan Meller (daughter) |
| Other work | Artist |
First Lieutenant Thomas Meehan III (July 8, 1921 – June 6, 1944)[2] was a commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during World War II. He was killed on "D-Day" when the aircraft he was aboard was shot down by ground fire.
Meehan was portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers by Jason O'Mara.
Contents
Youth
He enjoyed drawing and painting as a hobby.[2] After graduating from Germantown High School in 1939, he completed two years at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art to become a commercial artist, but the war intervened before graduation.[2] Meehan enlisted in his hometown of Philadelphia Pennsylvania on March 16, 1941.[2]
Military service
After serving in Company "B" (Baker) after arriving in the United Kingdom, Meehan transferred to Company "E" (Easy) to replace Captain Herbert Sobel, who had been transferred to command a parachute training school for non-combat officers.
Before takeoff, Meehan wrote a letter and handed it out the door of the C-47 to be sent to his wife:
- June 5th, 1944
Dearest Anne:
In a few hours I'm going to take the best company of men in the world into France. We'll give the bastards hell. Strangely, I'm not particularly scared. But in my heart is a terrific longing to hold you in my arms.
I love you Sweetheart – forever.
- Your
Lt Meehan and the 16 members of Easy Company's HQ Section flew to Normandy aboard a C-47 Skytrain of the 439th Troop Carrier Command, one of thirty-six forming Serial 12 of Mission Albany, and was headed for Drop Zone C (1 mile West of Sainte Marie-du-Mont).
The aircraft was hit by German anti-aircraft fire. An eyewitness in another aircraft said "the plane left the formation and slowly initiated a right turn. I followed it with my eyes and noticed its landing lights coming on, I thought it was going to be all right. Then, suddenly, it came crashing down [into] a hedgerow and instantly exploded." The plane crashed near the village of Beuzeville-au-Plain (approximately 2 miles northeast of the town of Sainte-Mère-Église), killing the crew and the paratroopers aboard, including Company "E"'s entire company headquarters group. The wreckage of the plane wasn't confirmed found until the early 1950s; until that time he and all the men on the plane were declared missing in action. A memorial was later erected near the site.
Interment
Meehan's remains were returned to the United States in 1952[5] and are now buried at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery (Plot 84 25) at mass grave area on Circle Drive, just south of St. Louis, Missouri. He shares a grave site with the C-47 aircrew and fellow paratroopers of that flight.[6]
On June 6, 2000, a memorial was dedicated in the Beuzeville-au-Plain church to Meehan and the other men that were killed when the plane was shot down.[7]
Medals and Decorations
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References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Ambrose 1992, p. 66
- ↑ "Letters and Artwork by Thomas Meehan" from Currahee website
- ↑ Currahee Memorial Personal Remembrance - 1st Lt Thomas Meehan III
- ↑ Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery - Surnames M - St. Louis, Missouri
- ↑ 101st Airborne WW2 website (Scroll half way down the page)
Bibliography
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- http://www.506infantry.org/his2ndbnwwiimemo01.html Has picture of crash site.
- http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=19056306&PIpi=27643984 picture of crash site.
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. location of crash site
