Tom Threewitt to marshal Du Quoin Vets parade

The Du Quoin Chamber of Commerce--based upon recommendations from the Du Quoin American Legion and the VFW--today named World War II Navy veteran Tom Threewitt as the Grand Marshal of the Nov. 11 Veterans Day parade in Du Quoin.

Tom is a still-great and humble man who is part of the Greatest Generation.

His service to this country remains a source of pride, and his respect is derived from the story of an 18-year-old boy who lived on an aircraft carrier for an entire year in WWII.

In recent years, this newspaper helped create the book "The Greatest Generation" and Mr. Threewitt's story is in that book.

Mr. Threewitt was drafted. He was pretty excited to go into the service. For an 18-year-old, there were no inhibitions. He wasn't skeptical or afraid to serve his country. He was ready to go on an adventure; and to have the pleasure of serving his country at the same time. He could have been a little afraid of going off to war, but as Thomas Threewitt retells the story he remembers no fear. He was driven to serve his country for many different reasons, but the bombing of Pearl Harbor made going to war top priority for Mr. Threewitt. The war in Europe as a whole also sparked the convictions in him that were needed to serve his country with spirit. When he first entered the service, he completely understood what was expected of him.

Basic training was good for him. Mr. Threewitt had his basic training in Farragutt, Idaho. He can recall much about this place that was stranger than his home in Illinois. He recalls, "It was totally different from Illinois. It was mountains and snow. We did it (basic training) in November. I got to see a deer for the first time up there, which I know now it's a common thing, but back then we didn't have any deer around here."

The basic training might have been in another state, but Mr. Threewitt says that it was not hard for him. Mr. Threewitt tells it that he "never had a doubt" that he would make it through this life changing experience. He is a confident man. He says, "That's an 18-year-old for you." When Americans look at the flag of the United States, it might have several meanings in it. For Thomas Threewitt, it has a special meaning. It means freedom to him, which is very important to him and the thousands of WWII veterans that have served our country. He also points out that freedom gives us the right to do what we want to do, but it also gives us the right to accomplish what we want to.

Mr. Threewitt got through boot camp in Farragutt, Idaho, without injury and from then on moved to the more serious side of World War II. From there he went to Oklahoma for Navy school. He then traveled to San Diego, California, where he was assigned to an aircraft carrier in Saginaw Bay. The South Pacific carrier was located right next to the island of Okinawa. His stay in Okinawa was brief since soon after the soldiers arrived there the peace treaty that ended the war was signed.

Threewitt said that the best part of the war experience was meeting the people that he did. He made some amazing friendships with the soldiers that he served alongside during the war. Mr. Threewitt was on board of the ship for an entire year, so he spent most of his days on the carrier getting to know his fellow comrades. There were 800 men on his aircraft carrier. That was a little bit of an insignificant number compared to some of the other U.S. carriers that housed more than 3000 men. He said that usually they had downtime inbetween the battles. His job was to load the bombs on the planes before an attack, and he also made the ammunition belts for the planes with the bombs on them. He had to clean the deck of te ship lik everyone else.

There is a downside to war, a fact which everyone realizes. The worst part of being a soldier for Mr. Threewitt was finding out that his sister ship in Iwo Jima had been hit by a suicide plane. The ship sank, killing at least, if not more, 200 soldiers. Even though Mr. Threewitt did not know them, the men that had been killed were Americans, and this thought saddened Mr. Threewitt. Another day, he was working on reloading his ship and in the same harbor that they were in, the ammunition ship blew up in front of their eyes. Twelve hundred men died in a flash that day. He said all the days aboard the ship were very much the same, but when asked if he could have changed anything in his war experience, he replied, "Well really for myself, nothing. I wouldn't give it up for anything, but I wouldn't want to go back over there. But, just like any war, you lose too many men and you knew that they were the same as you except they weren't ever coming back." This can wear on anyone's mind if they let it.

Threewitt was awarded the following decorations for his service in World War II: American Pacific Theater of War Ribbon, Asiatic-Pacific Theater of War Ribbon, Silver Stars from- Palau, Leyte, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa Campaigns, and Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one star for Enemy Air Attack. He received those honors before he was discharged. After the peace treaty had been signed, he was shipped over to the Philippines to clean up the bases there. He is most proud of the fact that he came out alive and that he had the opportunity to meet the friends that he did. He is the only one left alive of his closest friends that he met on the aircraft carrier.

After his discharge Mr. Threewitt has been able to use what he learned on the aircraft carrier in 1945 during his career in communications with phone companies statewide.. He worked with a lot of electrical and mechanical things in the service and that helped him apply the skills to his job. He worked at a telephone company up in Chicago until he realized that Chicago didn't quite agree with him. He came back to Southern Illinois in 1950 to get a job at a telephone company. Mr. Threewitt says this about discipline during his service time, "There is a difference (in discipline) during wartime and peacetime. We (the soldiers) were more relaxed in wartime. During peacetime in the Navy, we did a lot of cleaning and polishing." He said that this experience has helped him in his life by giving him a healthy respect for other people and being able to take orders humbly.

Threewitt was discharged in April 1945 and began work at Chicago in July. He worked for Western Electric for about a month and then he moved down to Southern Illinois in 1947 to work for a telephone company here. "If you are called into service for your country, you need to go and do your best and solve the problems. You need to have a respect for our country here because it is a great nation."