By Zach 1-06-2006

Ernest Thomas was a humble hard working dedicated man while in the National Guard, and is very much the same kind of person today.

Mr. Thomas or as I call him, Grandpa was born on September 22, 1935. He has lived in Akron all his life. Like many boys at his age, he liked to hike and fish during his spare time. Ernie was fortunate enough to go to Copley High School and later on to Akron University studying biology. When he was between the ages of 14 and 21, he worked as a delivery boy for a bakery and a florist. Eventually, he worked with his father at Carter Lumber. At age 22, Ernie decided to join the Army National Guard. At the time, the United States was conducting a draft for the war. Ernie decided that by joining the Guard he would be helping his country, and be able to have a choice as to what specific role or job he would be doing while serving. While in the National Guard, Ernie received his basic training at Fort Knox Kentucky as a mortar gunner. This I believe my Grandpa was very good at. Ernie’s son, or I guess I should say my Dad, told me a story once. Both my Dad and my Grandpa were painting their house. My Grandfather told his son to keep an eye on the field next door. Their happened to be a couple of rats that lived in the field, then would come out and steal dog food while the dog slept. My Dad saw the rats come out and told my Grandpa. Grandpa quickly lifted his rifle, took aim, and fired killing both rats with one bullet. My Dad said he’d never seen anything like that before. His aim was incredible. Even though Ernie’s humble personality did not boast his marksmanship, I believe he was a very good mortar gunner for the Guard.

Ernie’s basic training began and was the least favorite thing he did while in the Guard. Basic training involved early morning reveille, breakfast and then war simulation situations with complete uniform, weapons and gear which sometimes weighed 80 lbs.

Training continued into the evening sometimes, and when the day was done, the barracks beds were a welcome site for an aching body. The barrack’s rules for lights out were strict because the same hard days were to continue for months. It was important to get proper rest or combat performance could jeopardize fellow guardsman’s lives. This is why the barracks rules were to be followed very strictly. In their spare time, my Grandpa said they would sleep and clean there rifles.

After basic training was completed, Ernie was stationed at Fort Dicks New Jersey in 1959. His group was 500 strong, and broken down into many companies and units.

Ernie was very impressed by the facilities at Fort Dicks, and because of the size of his unit, he made many good friends. Some of which he is still friends with today. Some of his friends went into infantry training or front line training. These were the guys that were in the M1 tanks carving a path though the enemy lines. Ernie’s job was to take out the enemies with mortar blows that had a kill radius of 25 yards. This meant that anything in a 25 yard radius probably would not survive the blast of metal fragments flying through the air. Fortunately, my Grandfather never saw combat. With Ernie’s training came rank increases, and by his tour end, he achieved rank of Specialist 4 Mortar Gunner. During Ernie’s leaves, he would travel by bus back home to his wife, whom he married in 1958. After Ernie’s tour ended, he remained in the military for six years. During that time, he was a military truck driver. After Ernie was discharged, he began training to be an optician and eventually owned his own optical business with his wife (my Grandmother). Today both my Grandpa and Grandma live in Copley, where they both love to travel and love being grandparents.

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