Thomas Clayton Cargill ★ World War II Gold Star Veteran from South Carolina
On March 24, 1945 Major Cargill was declared a casualty of World War II. ★ He served with honor in the United States Army Air Forces. ★ He is remembered by the people of South Carolina. ★ May his positive example inspire us. Working together towards peace, mutual respect, and equality for all.
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Our displayed data concerning the life and military history of Thomas Clayton Cargill is a work in progress. We've assembled a list of elements we are in the process of researching and reviewing. This profile was last edited on 2019-01-15 13:13:48.
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Missing : Supplemental Data
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Service Details
| This Profile ID | 79060 |
| Service ID | O-789680 |
| Name | Thomas Clayton Cargill |
| From | Columbia, Lexington County, South Carolina |
| Birth Date | June 6, 1919 |
| Casualty Date | March 24, 1945 |
| War | World War II |
| Service Branch | Army Air Forces |
| Rank | Major |
| Specialty | Pilot Commanding Officer |
| Unit/Group | 61st Troop Carrier Group, 14th Squadron |
| Casualty Type | Killed in action |
| Location | Wesel, Germany |
| Burial | Plot P Row 3 Grave 3, Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands |
| Notable Awards |
★ Distinguished Flying Cross
★ Air Medal
★ Purple Heart |
| Remembered | 
Thomas Clayton Cargill is buried or memorialized at Plot P Row 3 Grave 3, Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands. This is an American Battle Monuments Commission location. |
Additional Details
Major Thomas Clayton Cargil was born in Montgomery, Montgomery County, Alabama. He later moved to Columbia, Richland county, South Carolina. He excelled in sports in high school and was the starting quarterback on the varsity football team and he also ran track. He accepted an athletic scholarship from the University at Clemson, Pickens county, South Carolina. He set a school record in the 440 yard dash.Cargill joined the peacetime Air Corps on October 1, 1941. He was a natural pilot. He took his first solo ride after seven hours and 45 minutes of dual instruction. He soon became one of the top pilots. In May 1943 he was transferred to the 12th Air Force and reported to Algeria. He participated in Operation Husky which dropped paratroopers into Sicily. This was his first combat mission. Operation Varsity was the largest and last airborne operation of WWII. Cargill was Commander of the 14th Troop Carrier Squadron. The 14th carried elements of the Canadian 1st paratroop regiment across the Rhine River near Wiesel, Germany. His C-47 Sky Train went into a turn, he flew into what looked like a stream of tracer fire and was seen to start puffing smoke from around the left wing and from the cockpit. Cargill's plane never came out of the turn and quickly lost altitude. The left wing hit a house as it neared the ground tearing it off and the rest of the ship exploded. All aboard the plane were killed. |
Commendations + Awards
Please note this might not be a complete or completely accurate accounting. For some awards we use probability factors based on known service details. Thanks for your understanding.
★ Distinguished Flying Cross
★ Air Medal
★ Purple Heart
★ United States Aviator Badge Army
★ World War II Victory Medal
★ American Campaign Medal
★ Army Presidential Unit Citation
★ Army Good Conduct Medal
★ European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign
Notable Reference Sources
These are typically links to pages on external sites that have provided specific nodes of information. In most cases the information has some assurance of being crowd-sourced and vetted by a community of users.South Carolina Gold Star Veterans Gallery
Honoring the men and women of South Carolina who gave their all for their country. May their example of courage and sacrifice be our guide. To be strong and responsible in our lives as citizens of the world. Through honest daily actions, we honor them.
▶ South Carolina was home to over 4,166 American Gold Star veterans from 4 wars of the 20th Century. Some significant statistics:
• 1,091 World War I
• 1,677 World War II
• 502 Korean War
• 896 Vietnam War
• 105 Prisoners of war
• 1,021 Missing in action
• 19 Pearl Harbor casualties
• 48 D-Day Normandy casualties
• 11 Medal of Honor recipients
• 1,677 World War II
• 502 Korean War
• 896 Vietnam War
• 105 Prisoners of war
• 1,021 Missing in action
• 19 Pearl Harbor casualties
• 48 D-Day Normandy casualties
• 11 Medal of Honor recipients
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▼ Primary Sources - These are repositories for artifacts, documents, diaries, manuscripts, and other information that serve as original and authoritative sources of information.
National Archives (NARA)
Library of Congress (LOC)
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)
Findagrave.com
Ancestry.com
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