This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
11/10/2021 07:30 AMBranford’s Thomas Spivey has a place in history as one who stood Honor Guard over the Unknown Soldier of World War II, as the remains were carried home across the Atlantic.
The Branford resident and Navy veteran was just 18 years old when his ship, the USS Blandy, received orders in 1958 for the special duty. The Blandy traveled from Europe to the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., to return the casket now interred in the tomb at the heart of Arlington National Cemetery.
Thomas is especially aware of his place in history this year, which marks the centennial of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (1921-2021).
Bringing The Unknown Soldier Home
The first orders for the Blandy were to collect the casket carrying the last unknown remains to be removed among World War II U.S. military dead buried in Europe. Once the casket was aboard the Blandy, Commander William Cafferata set up a special 24-hour honor guard. One by one, Thomas and the 225 members of her crew stood watch over the flag-draped casket, an hour at a time.
Thomas, now 82, can still recall marching up for his duty watch at the casket, placed amidships on the deck of the 407-foot destroyer.
“It was very solemn, and you’re an 18-year-old kid, and this is your first experience at this,” says Thomas, adding that, during that hour, “you try to remember this fallen person, and that he gave his life for us; and here I am, standing guard. It was an honor.”
Standing with his rifle at parade rest, his other arm behind his back, Thomas also remembers he had to focus on his stance during that watch.
“You’ve got to concentrate on what you’re doing, and you’ve got to concentrate well, because the ship is moving; the ship is rolling. So you’re trying to keep your balance, and you’ve got one arm behind your back the whole time.”
Thomas has framed a commemorative black and white photo taken of him while he was on that watch. He doesn’t recall seeing the photographer, but figures it was likely taken from the gun mount diagonal to his position. It’s now one of his most treasured possessions from his Navy service and his time as Honor Guard, his proudest memory.
Thomas was part of the military’s 1958 effort that carried home three unknown soldiers on two ships converging from the Atlantic and Trans-Pacific. The other ship, the USS Boston, brought back unknown World War II military remains from the Pacific Theater together with unknown remains from the Korean Conflict.
Part of the mission called for the Blandy and the Boston to meet up, match speeds, and make a “highline” transfer of the Blandy’s casket onto the Boston (crossing the casket over the water, by line, between the two ships), says Thomas, who watched the operation. Once transferred, a solemn selection ceremony took place among the two World War II caskets aboard the Boston, as only one WWII Unknown Soldier casket could be laid at rest at Arlington. The other was honorably buried at sea from the Boston.
Then, both the remaining World War II casket and the Korean Conflict casket were highlined back onto the Blandy to continue to the journey home, with an honor guard posted for the remaining journey. Thomas says it was never known whether the World War II casket returned to the Blandy was the original one that had been aboard before.
“They only can represent one war at a time, so having them from two different locations, they buried one at sea. That’s a tradition,” says Thomas.
The Blandy’s special mission was completed once it traveled up the Potomac River to reach the present-day Washington Navy Yard. With the crew standing at attention on the ship, together with high-ranking military leaders ashore, the caskets were ceremoniously removed from the Blandy to be transferred to the U.S. Capitol building, where they lay in state before the final trip to Arlington, where they were interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
An Invitation to Arlington
During this centennial year of Arlington’s establishment of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Thomas, as an historical witness and participant, has been interviewed by military groups and organizations. His recollections appeared in a winter 2021 story in Tin Can Sailor magazine, a publication of the National Association of Destroyer Veterans. He conducted Zoom interviews during the pandemic to assist with the gathering of oral history documentations of the 1958 mission.
Thomas was also invited to attend the anniversary’s culminating event this week on Thursday, Nov. 11, National Veterans Day, at Arlington National Cemetery. While he has chosen not to travel to attend the ceremony, Thomas says he and his late wife, Raphela, made trips to Arlington and visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with their children.
“My kids knew, ‘That’s where daddy brought this body back,’” says Thomas.
A New Haven native, Thomas and Raphela met after he left the Navy. They moved their family to Branford in 1984. While his family has known about his place in military history, Thomas didn’t share the news with local veterans’ groups or publications until this year.
“Nobody else knew about it. My family knew, that was it,” says Thomas, who was recently encouraged by his children to share his story with The Sound.
“All I know is I stood watch up there, and did what I had to do,” says Thomas.
Thomas is grateful for the four years he served in the Navy, which provided him with training that turned into his profession as a union electrician. He was honorably discharged in March 1962 with the rank of specialist petty officer, 3rd class.
Thomas is also grateful these days because being contacted for the purposes of the centennial celebration also allowed him to reconnect with one of his Blandy shipmates, Tom DeMichele, who also had been contacted for oral history and centennial documentation purposes. DeMichele slept just a few bunks away from Thomas during their time together on the ship and now lives in the Hartford area. Thomas says it’s been nice to reconnect with his buddy, especially as he and Raphela had stopped attending Blandy reunion gatherings many years ago.
“You see guys and you watched each other age over the years, and then you don’t see them for two years and you ask, ‘Where’s Joe?’ and you find out he passed away,” says Thomas. “And I’ve seen it, through the years, because I was one of the youngest guys. I was like a kid. I didn’t know anything. They brought you along. It was the best experience I ever had in my life, because it educated me, it taught me a trade, and I’ve seen every place.”
Thomas served aboard two different ships during his time in the Navy, but the Blandy, on which he served for 3 ½ years, will always be his favorite. The destroyer was brand new when Thomas got his assignment. In naval lingo, Thomas is a “plank owner” of the Blandy, as he was part of her inaugural crew when she was first put into commission. He recalls the new ship had everything, including air conditioning.
One of his favorite memories took place as the Blandy was headed out on an independent run for a goodwill tour.
“We were in the Atlantic, just above the equator, and the captain stopped the ship and said, ‘Okay fellas, Swim Call.’”
The rails came down, and the gunners put their boats out in the water with rifles to deter sharks and barracuda, if needed, he says.
“And we just lined up in a crowd and you jump in. In the middle of the Atlantic!” says Thomas. “And then you came around the side and had a cargo net to scamper back up. A lot of us went in, 50, 60 guys went in and out. You’re 18 years old. You fear nothing.”