From a contemporary press report:
Charles N. Thomas, Colonel, United States Army (retired) died on Monday, January 21, 2002, at Walter Reed Army Hospital.
Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Colonel Thomas was educated in Economics and taught briefly at Tuskegee Institute. Colonel Thomas spent more than 30 years in the Army. He served as a Master Sergeant in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II and went on to serve in Korea and in Vietnam.
Colonel Thomas’ assignments included the Pentagon and NATO. When he retired, Colonel Thomas was Inspector General, Army Materiel Command.
His military awards include three Legion of Merit honors as well as a Bronze Star.
Following his retirement, Colonel Thomas worked as a transportation engineering consultant and a real estate broker.
He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Evelyn Thomas of Springfield; daughters, Sherri Ball of Annandale and Pam Thomas Jarvis of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware; son, Tom Thomas of Wilmington, North Carolina; three grandsons and one granddaughter also survive.
Interment services with Full Military Honors will be held on Thursday, January 31, 2002 at 11 a.m. at Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105.
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard