Major Thomas Dry Howie (April 12, 1908 – July 17, 1944) was a
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
while leading his unit in an effort to capture the strategic French town of
Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô (, ; br, Sant Lo) is a commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy.
Abbeville, South Carolina
Abbeville is a city and county seat of Abbeville County, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is located west of Columbia and south of Greenville. Its population was 5,237 at the 2010 census. Settled by French Huguenot settlers, it was ...
and the fifth of seven children born to Torrance and Cora Dry Howie. He attended Abbeville High School where he was a star athlete and also worked part-time jobs at a print shop and local mill. At The Citadel in
Charleston
Charleston most commonly refers to:
* Charleston, South Carolina
* Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital
* Charleston (dance)
Charleston may also refer to:
Places Australia
* Charleston, South Australia
Canada
* Charleston, Newfoundlan ...
,
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
he was a Deans List English major, President of his class, All State halfback on the football team and captain of the baseball team; he was also voted “Most Versatile, Popular and Best All Around” by his classmates. His principles and leadership abilities became evident in his junior year when he led a hunger strike by the Corps of Cadets to protest the poor quality of food in the mess hall. In the fall of 1928 Howie travelled to
Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
,
South Carolina
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
to take the qualifying test for the
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
then was hurriedly driven back to Charleston by an Assistant Coach to play in the homecoming football game, he arrived just in time for the opening kickoff and later scored the winning touchdown as The Citadel beat Clemson 12-7.
After graduating in 1929 he taught English, served as Athletic Director and coached sports at Staunton Military Academy in Virginia where his football teams won four Military School State Championships. During his time in Staunton he would meet and marry Elizabeth Payne (1905-1989), a daughter Sally was born in 1938.
Military service
On 4 June 1929, Howie accepted a commission as a second lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps. On 10 January 1934, he transferred to the Virginia National Guard, joining Company L of the 2nd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, which was based in Staunton. He entered active duty when the 29th Division was federalized on 3 February 1941. Howie was promoted to first lieutenant on 18 June 1941. The 29th trained at bases in Maryland, North Carolina and Florida, then moved to the United Kingdom in September 1942 and underwent further intensive training. Howie was promoted to captain on 13 April 1942 and to major on 9 November 1942. On 6 June 1944, the regiment landed at
Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors designated for the amphibious assault component of operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded German-occupied France with the Normandy landings. "Omaha" r ...
on
D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
; a little more than a month later, on July 13, 1944, Major Howie was assigned to command the 3rd Battalion. On July 16, the 3rd Battalion was given the task of rescuing their comrades of the 2nd Battalion which had been surrounded and were nearly out of food and ammunition; using only hand grenades and bayonets Howie's men broke through the German forces on the “Martinsville Line” in less than 2 hours despite being at only half strength. Howie personally led the attack and eliminated 2 enemy machine gun nests. After resupplying his fellow soldiers he then
left the 2nd Battalion to defend their position, reporting that they were "too cut up", and planned to use the 3d Battalion alone to push ahead and liberate St. Lô. On the morning of July 17, Howie phoned Major General Charles Gerhardt, the Division Commander saying “Yes, we can do it” and "See you in St. Lo!"; then issued orders for the attack. Moments later he was killed by shrapnel during a mortar attack. The next day, the 3rd Battalion entered Saint-Lô, with Howie's body on the hood of the lead jeep, at Gerhardt's order, so that Howie would be the first American to enter the town. The flag-draped body was placed in the rubble of the St. Croix Cathedral and soldiers filed past in a show of respect, local citizens came out and placed flowers at the site.
left, Howies flag draped body on the rubble of the St. Croix Cathedral in St. Lo
The photo of Howie's flag-draped body in the rubble of the St. Croix Cathedral was widely circulated in the United States and became one of the most iconic images of the war, it came to symbolize the sacrifices of Americans in the European Theater. Because of wartime security Howie's name could not be revealed, it was only announced that it was a U.S. Army Major so it was famed
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
correspondent Drew Middleton who dubbed Howie "The Major of St. Lo".
60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...
commentator
Andy Rooney
Andrew Aitken Rooney (January 14, 1919 – November 4, 2011) was an American radio and television writer who was best known for his weekly broadcast "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney", a part of the CBS News program '' 60 Minutes'' from 1978 to 201 ...
, then a reporter with the
Stars and Stripes (newspaper)
''Stars and Stripes'' is a daily American military newspaper reporting on matters concerning the members of the United States Armed Forces and their communities, with an emphasis on those serving outside the United States. It operates from insi ...
, witnessed the event and called it "one of the truly heartwarming and emotional scenes of a gruesome and frightful war", years later in a speech he stated “I guess there never was an American soldier more honored by what the people who loved him did for him after he died. There can be no doubt that Thomas Howie was a charismatic leader, a courageous soldier and a man of outstanding character". Howie is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery, a cenotaph was placed at Long Cane Cemetery in his hometown of Abbeville.
Post War Honors
Staunton Military Academy honored Howie with a bust placed at Kable Hall, the administration building and by establishing a drill team called the Howie Rifles, which is now part of the Army ROTC detachment of the Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership at
Mary Baldwin College
Mary Baldwin University (MBU, formerly Mary Baldwin College) is a private university in Staunton, Virginia. It was founded in 1842 as Augusta Female Seminary. Today, Mary Baldwin University is home to the Mary Baldwin College for Women, a resid ...
; in 1954 The Citadel erected the Howie Bell Tower next to its chapel and a mural of his body being carried into St. Lo is one of a series on school history displayed in Daniel Library.
In 1956,
Collier's
''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...
magazine printed a story, "The Major of St. Lo" by Cornelius Ryan; it was made into an episode of the TV show Cavalcade of America that was broadcast on June 5, 1956, with Peter Graves playing the part of Howie. In 1969 as part of the 25th Anniversary of D-Day the town of St. Lo dedicated a large memorial to Howie and a plaque is on the cathedral at the site where his body had laid. The character of Captain John Miller in the movie Saving Private Ryan was largely based on Major Howie
In 2003 he was enshrined in the South Carolina Hall of Fame. A historical marker stands in front of the Howie home in Abbeville and a granite monument is in the town square with the inscription “Dead in France, Deathless in Fame”; Army Reserve Centers in Greenwood, South Carolina and
Staunton, Virginia
Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities a ...