Biography Search Display Name: Charles Thomas Captain Charles Thomas, January 26, 1945 Photo courtesy of the Detroit Public Library, Burton Historical Collection Year of Birth: 1920 Year of Death: 1980       Biography: Humility and heroism are rare qualities in themselves. For them to be housed within the same body is rarer still. These collective traits would best exemplify the life of Charles Thomas, an African-American World War II hero who bravely fought for his country and did not seek the spotlight that he deserved. Charles Thomas was born in Birmingham, Al and raised there and in Detroit where his family relocated when he was still young. He is a 1938 graduate of Cass Technical High School and began his working career making steel at the Ford River Rouge factory. His studies at Wayne State University were interrupted when the army drafted him into World War II in 1942. Beginning as an infantryman, but then receiving a commission as a second lieutenant in 1943 after a stint at Camp Wolters in Texas for officer training, he eventually joined the segregated 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion. The battalion was eventually shipped to France where it served under General George Patton's Third Army in 1944. The segregation he experienced reflected itself in the poor equipment his battalion received, which required that the battalion spend an inordinate amount of time repairing it. In December of 1944, Thomas volunteered to lead a decoy unit of African-American infantrymen to distract German troops while other members of Patton's forces maneuvered to and eventually capture the German-occupied town of Climbach, which was the end product of the original plan. As the decoy unit Thomas led was exposed to sniper fire, Thomas ultimately returned fire, directed his men, refused their help until his troops were appropriately positioned and suffered significant injuries. The battle lasted five hours, but his unit won and allowed Patton's forces to meet with the planned success. In the end, his unit became the first African-American unit to win a distinguished unit citation and, for his efforts, Thomas would be the first living African American to receive the Distinguished Service Cross. The injuries he suffered resulted in a discharge in 1947 after first recuperating in England and then Battle Creek, MI. Rarely did he talk about his exploits during World War II and he lived a quiet life, first as a missile technician at Selfridge Field in Mount Clemens, MI and then as a programmer for the Internal Revenue Service. In 1995 the Pentagon convened a group who decided that Thomas and seven other African-American soldiers deserved to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor. 17 years after his passing, Thomas received that honor posthumously from President William Jefferson Clinton. His niece received it on his behalf. He became the fourteenth Michigan veteran to receive the medal, a medal that he would have received fifty years previously had it not been for the discriminatory treatment that African Americans received during that era.

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