WWII

Thomas Maxwell Wight

Rate / Rank
Captain

Birthdate
December 12 1914

Date of Death
September 16 1943

Branch
US Army

Active Duty Service
July 5 1939 - September 16 1943

Conflicts & Campaigns

Sicily; Invasion of Italy, (Salerno)

Significant Duty Stations

82nd Airborne Division (800 American paratroopers landed 14 miles behind German lines. 150 were killed before they were rescued by the 5th Army's advance).

Decorations & Citations

Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster (Wounded, Sicily July 16, 1943; (KIA near Salerno, Italy September 19, 1943).
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal

Notes

Graduate of Cairo High School Class of 1941. Tom was killed near Salerno, Italy on the second night after their jump there (by a foot long piece of 88mm shrapnel slamming into his back) Burial; Cairo Cemetery, Cairo, Georgia.