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05/20/2015 08:00 AMIn 1943, just five days shy of turning 17, Vincent “Vinnie” Thomas joined the U.S. Navy. By the age of 20, he’d experienced a lifetime of war—much of it encountered as a PBY Catalina radioman, flying “Dumbo” air-sea rescue missions during battles including Iwo Jima.
Today, the Branford resident’s among about 200 remaining Iwo Jima survivors. It’s a number greatly reduced from the 900 who first reunited in the 1980s, forming the Iwo Jima Survivors Association. A member since its inception, Vinnie has contributed much, including his work to help establish, in 1995, the nation’s only Iwo Jima Memorial Monument honoring those who specifically fought in the battle. Vinnie stresses the iconic flag-raising statue, located on the campus of Central Connecticut State University, differs greatly from the U.S. Marines Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, which honors all U.S. Marines of all wars. Vinnie also organized the last U.S./Canada reunion of Iwo Jima Survivors (held right here in Branford). Additionally, for the past 11 years, Vinnie’s served as editor and publisher of the association’s quarterly Journal of the Iwo Jima Survivors.
The battle for Iwo Jima was one of the fiercest fights of World War II. The five-week struggle to win the island from the Japanese in 1945 resulted in more than 19,000 American wounded and more than 6,800 Americans losing their lives. More than 100 of those killed in action were from Connecticut, as Vinnie, also historian for Branford American Legion, is well aware.
The names of those 100 Connecticut men killed in action are inscribed in the base of the Iwo Jima Memorial Monument, Vinnie notes. The monument, sculpted by Joseph Petrovics, incorporates actual rocks and sand from Iwo Jima as well as 10 polished black granite pictorial panels depicting the history of the Battle for Iwo Jima, none of which is found at the Arlington memorial, Vinnie also points out.
“To our knowledge, ours in the only Iwo Jima memorial monument specifically dedicated to the memory of all the men killed on Iwo Jima,” Vinnie says.
As one who spent nearly 10 years and countless hours raising the money needed to bring the memorial into being, Vinnie is understandably passionate about the project. He is no less dedicated to his work in producing the quarterly Survivor’s Journal. Through the years, by collecting and publishing survivors’ letters and brief memoirs sent to his Branford mailbox, Vinnie has helped to shepherd primary source recollections of Iwo Jima into the pages of each journal.
“Some of these fellows are able to talk about it,” says Vinnie, who prefers not to discuss his own battle experiences (his plane was forced down at Iwo Jima).
Vinnie will share that his crew nicknamed him “Sparky” and that he is pretty proud of his ability, without a high school diploma, to be one of only a handful of recruits at his Corpus Christi, Texas, air station to successfully complete training, besting some “college boys.” His ability to translate Morse code made his position critical to the success of missions and, as an added bonus, “I loved it when I could tune in big band music,” Vinnie says, laughing. “I would put it on the speaker for the crew!”
Vinnie completed his service (U.S. Navy third class) in 1946, finishing up in Corpus Christi as a radio instructor. He then took the typing ability honed by his radioman’s work and translated it into an operations career in the trucking industry.
“I would recommend joining the military to any young person, especially anyone who’s not sure what they want to do in life. It gives you a direction,” says Vinnie.
Vinnie’s typing ability turned into a love of writing and editing, and that’s how he found himself at the helm of the Journal, taking over for the past editor and continuing on the job four times a year for more than a decade.
“I try to make it personal,” Vinnie says of each Journal’s contents. “It’s history, and it’s also a lot more. I write a message from the editor in each one; I publish letters from survivors and letters from people who thank me for the letters. It has pictures, reprinted newspaper articles (historical and modern)...There’s a lot to read and look at.”
One journal, for example, carries “The Harlan Jeffery Story,” recollections of a double-Purple Heart recipient. As a 4th Marine Division member, Sgt. Jeffery earned his second Purple Heart during the initial invasion of Iwo Jima in February 1945. He recalled on-board briefings on the way to the island describing an enemy dug in underground in caves and pillboxes. Sgt. Harlan also remembered how the first waves of Marines ashore reported having trouble getting off the beach due to its loose, volcanic ash.
“Casualties were mounting,” said Jeffery, who gave an oral history as part of the story Vinnie published. “We hit the beach, taking a beating and trying to move forward, but couldn’t. We were getting picked off like clay pigeons. One of the kids in my squad was right behind me and got shot in the back. I just picked up my head enough to call for a corporal when all of a sudden something went through my scalp.”
Jeffrey received some “powder” on his wound from the corporal.
“He told me to put my helmet back on. Well, the next few days were not very pleasant,” he reported.
Through the years, the pages of each Journal have been thickened by reprinted obituaries as survivors, many now in their 90s, pass away. In December 2015, due to ever-dwindling contributions of survivor content, Vinnie plans to publish the last issue.
“The correspondence is getting less; I know the time has come to pack it in,” he says. “I’m sad in a way, but it’s got to end.”
He’s already working with local printer K&G Graphics to have each issue bound into a large book format to keep for posterity. Vinnie hopes to be able to present one as a gift to Branford’s Blackstone Library.
“So if kids want to know about the history, they’ll be able to read it,” he says. “I want to send another one to Washington for the archives, and I’ll send one to the Marie Corps, and if other members want to buy one, they can, and donate it to their hometown. I’m leaving a legacy of our survivors.”
A New Haven native and Branford resident since the early 1960s, Vinnie once served the town as a member of the Representative Town Meeting. Vinnie thanks his wife, Ann, for helping him to review each Journal before it goes to print. The couple loves living in Branford and can often be spotted at one of their favorite locations—Starbucks—enjoying a cup of coffee together.
“Whenever he wears his hat, he always has people come over to thank him for his service,” says Ann of Vinnie’s Iwo Jima survivor’s cap.
“Veterans really appreciate that. We especially enjoy when young people say thank you,” says Vinnie. “It shows patriotism.”