Thomas Joseph Williams (1946 - 1969)

Born 11 Oct 1946 in Bay St Louis, Hancock, Mississippi, United States

Died 5 Jun 1969 at age 22 in Kon Tum, Vietnam

Biography

Thomas Williams is a part of US Black heritage.

Thomas Joseph was born in 1946. He was the son of Thomas Williams of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

Cpl Thomas Williams was killed in action during the Vietnam War.

CPL Thomas Williams served in the United States Army in the Vietnam War
Service started:
Unit(s): D CO, 1ST BN, 12TH INFANTRY, 4TH INF DIV, USARV
Service ended:

He was killed in action in 1969.^[1][2][3]

Obituary

Killed In Viet Combat
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas [Victor Herman] Williams of Washington street, Bay St. Louis, have received word their son, Cpl. Thomas Joseph Williams, 22, U.S. Army, was killed in action in Vietnam on June 5 while encountering a hostile force in a combat operation. Funeral arrangements are incomplete.

Williams, a graduate of the Valena C. Jones High School in Bay St. Louis, entered service on Nov. 4, 1968, and was serving with the 112th Infantry Company D. Fourth Infantry Division.

His mother received a letter Thursday, dated May 27, in which Corporal Williams wrote, “C Company got in a fight a day ago and now we have to go where the worst is because four of their men got killed, But I am not letting that worry me. Tell the family hello for me. This is all now.......I am praying night and day and that is needed over here.”

Corporal Williams was one of 15 children of Mr. and Mrs. Williams. He and two other children graduated the same year from high school. One brother, Wilbert Williams, 19, was killed in an automobile accident in Bay St. Louis in November 1967.

Corporal Williams, whose father served in the U.S. Army in the South Pacific in World War II, was born on Oct. 11, 1946, in Bay St. Louis. He was a member of the Valena C. Jones United Methodist Church and worked at the NASA Mississippi Test Facility prior to entering service.

Other than his parents, he is survived by six brothers, Arthur Leander Williams, New Orleans; Gerald David Williams, Job Corps, Glice, Oregon. Victor Herman Jr., George Mark, Perry Norman, Donald Napoleon, Bay St. Louis; seven sisters, Mrs. Vettie Grace Favre, Willemnia [Willemena] Celestine, Mary Elizabeth, Thelma Jean, Sarah Louis, Victorine Gladys and Mabel Ann Williams, and his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Turner Parker, Bay St. Louis. ^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/40070554/thomas-joseph-williams: accessed 22 October 2023), memorial page for Corp Thomas Joseph Williams (11 Oct 1946–5 Jun 1969), Find a Grave Memorial ID 40070554, citing Cedar Rest Cemetery, Bay Saint Louis, Hancock County, Mississippi, USA; Maintained by Dawna Westbrook (contributor 47076696).
2. ↑ "United States Military Personnel who Died During the Vietnam War, 1956-2003", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXXB-BHJ : 22 January 2021), Thomas Joseph Williams, 1969.
3. ↑ "United States Casualties of Army Personnel, Dependents and Civilian Employees, 1961-1981," , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KXCD-373 : 12 December 2014), Thomas J Williams, 05 Jun 1969; citing Death, , NARA NAID 641697, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
4. ↑ The Daily Herald, (Biloxi, MS), 13 Jun1969, p. 2.

• 1950 Census: "United States Census, 1950"
  citing Page: 59; Line: 20; Digital film/folder number: 108935403; Image number: 62
  FamilySearch Record: 6FM4-NN67 (accessed 28 April 2024)
  FamilySearch Image: 3QHK-SQHW-JD7W
  Thomas J Williams (3), single son, in household of Victor H Williams (31) in Bay St Louis, Hancock, Mississippi, United States. Born in Mississippi.