TOM F. PRIDDY
Patriot, Chapter 1919
Army, WWII, Europe
Tom Frank Priddy
was born in Iredell, Texas (Bosque County) in 1924, and died in Austin,
Texas on June 27, 2006.
His parents, Lee and Ruby Priddy were living in Priddy,
Texas (Mills County) during WWII when Tom reported in to Induction Station,
Dallas, Texas, where he was sworn into the Army on December 21, 1943.
After his individual Infantry training and leave, he departed from home on
May 25, 1944 and traveled to Fort Meade, Maryland where replacements were
being assembled in anticipation of casualties expected to result from the
impending invasion landings in Normandy. Tom was shipped out on June 15,
1944 and arrived in Europe on June 27th. He was quickly assigned
to Company B, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry
Division; a division that had lost many men on Omaha Beach in the initial
assault landing on June 6, 1944, and many others in the fighting in Normandy
in the days following.
Having arrived three weeks after D-Day, Tom Priddy
served through to the end of the war in Europe, participating in the
Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, and Central Europe Campaigns. He was
wounded in Germany on April 5th, 1945 and then wounded again on
April 7th, and is a recipient of the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf
Cluster. Initially assigned as a machine gunner in Company B, Tom rose to
the rank of Staff Sergeant before returning to the United States in December
1945. He was discharged at Camp Fannin, Texas in January 1946, returned
home, and later that year he and Bonnye were married.
Tom’s post-war career was with the Fire Department of
Austin, Texas where he retired after 26 years of service. He had been a
member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart for eight years at the time
of his death, he was also a Mason and member of the Round Rock Lodge, and a
member of Crestview Baptist Church.
He was
survived by his wife, Bonnye; three daughters, Maritia Priddy of Austin,
Carol Weaver and husband Royce of Grand Prairie, and Becky Brooks and Henry
Probst of Smithville; and by six grandchildren.
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