DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. This one comes out of Huntsville, Walker County, and it belongs to a man who managed to be, all at once, a Marine officer, a combat veteran, a writer, and an artist — and he did all of it before the age of fifty-one. The name on the marker is John William Thomason Jr.
Born right there in Huntsville on February 28, 1893, the eldest of nine children. His father was Dr. John Williams Thomason, his mother Sue Hayes Goree Thomason.
Eldest of nine — now that's a household that teaches you something about order, about holding a line. He graduated from Huntsville High School in 1909, and then spent seven years teaching in area schools while working his way through several universities, including — and here's a detail that tells you everything about who this man was becoming — the Art Students League in New York. The drawing never left him.
It was with him from childhood and it stayed. After his time in the classroom and the studio, he worked as a reporter for the Houston Chronicle. But 1917 came around, the United States entered the First World War, and Thomason was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps.
What followed was not a quiet posting. He saw action at St. Mihiel.
He was there for the Meuse-Argonne. And at the Battle of Soissons in July of 1918, he did something — the marker doesn't say exactly what, and it doesn't need to — that earned him the Navy Cross. The nation's second-highest decoration for valor.
Let that sit a moment. Second highest. In the whole nation.
When the war ended, Thomason didn't walk away from the Corps. He stayed. Career Marine.
Shipboard duty, postings around the world. And the whole time, he was writing and drawing. Prolific is the word the marker uses, and it earns it — eleven illustrated books, more than sixty articles published in the premier magazines of the era.
A series of articles began appearing in Scribner's Magazine in 1925, and they grew into his most famous work, Fix Bayonets!, published in 1926. Instant success. National fame.
He wrote about the U.S. Civil War. He wrote from his experiences around the world.
The range of the man was something. Then came World War II. Thomason took on a series of assignments, and on March 12, 1944, he died in San Diego, California.
He left behind a wife and a son. That same year, 1944, the Navy launched a destroyer — USS John W. Thomason, hull designation DD-760 — and named it in his honor.
A Huntsville boy. Eldest of nine. Who drew, and wrote, and fought, and served until there was nothing left to give.
What the marker says
Huntsville native John William Thomason Jr. was born on February 28, 1893, as the eldest of nine children of Dr. John Williams and Sue Hayes (Goree) Thomason. Graduating from Huntsville High School in 1909, he taught in area schools for seven years between attendance at several universities, including the Art Students League in New York. After working as a reporter for the Houston Chronicle, Thomason was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps in 1917, after the United States' entry into the First World War. He saw action at some of the most intense campaigns of the war, including St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne. For his actions at the Battle of Soissons in July 1918, he was awarded the Navy Cross, the nation's second-highest decoration for valor. Thomason remained a career Marine after the war, balancing shipboard duty and postings around the world with a simultaneous career as an acclaimed writer and artist. Retaining a passion for drawing from childhood, Thomason was a prolific sketcher and writer, completing eleven illustrated books and publishing more than sixty articles for the premier magazines of the era. A series of popular articles in Scribner's Magazine beginning in 1925 evolved into his most famous work, Fix Bayonets! (1926), which brought instant success and national fame. Other works ranged from U.S. Civil War topics to reflections from his experiences around the world. After serving in a series of World War II assignments, Thomason died in San Diego, California, on March 12, 1944, leaving behind a wife and son. The naval destroyer USS John W. Thomason (DD-760), launched in 1944, was named in his honor. (2017)