Thomas Hendrix served in the U.S. Army as a Captain with the1301st Engineer General Service Regiment during World War II. The 1301st landed at Utah beach on 6 August 1944 and over the next several months it supported General George Patton’s Third Army's drive across France towards Germany. Captain Hendrix served as the regiment’s operations and training officer, and was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service in the fall of 1944. In this role, he supervised the design and construction of many bridges that helped to keep General Patton’s tanks on the advance. Captain Hendrix was killed in action on 31 December 1944 in France. (from Stories Behind the Stars at www.fold3.com)
