An Army Ranger who fought by way of D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of Inchon, escaped enemy captivity twice and was wounded two dozen instances throughout two wars has died at 106.
Thomas Edward “Tommy” Gwynn, identified all through his adopted hometown of Tullahoma, Tennessee, as “the best Ranger that ever was,” died Monday, April 6, on the Life Care Heart there, in line with an obituary issued by Kilgore Funeral House. He was two months from his 107th birthday and was the city’s oldest resident.
By the point he left the navy, Gwynn had earned a battlefield fee, a dozen Purple Hearts and later earned a French navy award for valor.
From Moscow, Tennessee, to the Army Rangers
Gwynn was born June 2, 1919, in Moscow, a farming city in Fayette County east of Memphis. He enlisted in 1941 and, two years later, earned a spot with the U.S. Army Rangers, the sunshine infantry pressure activated in 1942 beneath Maj. William O. Darby.
Gwynn shipped to England together with his unit in 1943 and waded ashore at Normandy on June 6, 1944. He marked the date as a second birthday yearly afterward, telling the Moore County News he celebrated it as a result of he survived.
From the beachhead, Gwynn pushed east by way of the Allied breakout, fought by way of the snowy Ardennes in the course of the Battle of the Bulge and reached the Elbe River on Might 8, 1945, the day Germany surrendered. He got here residence that November.
In 1950, he was known as again to service and shipped to Korea, the place he took half within the Sept. 15 amphibious touchdown at Inchon, Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s flanking strike towards North Korean forces.
On two separate events in the course of the Korean marketing campaign, enemy troops took him prisoner. Each instances, he broke out and returned to American strains.
Troops known as him “Little Horse” for his velocity and stamina beneath fireplace. He additionally earned a battlefield promotion to first lieutenant.
By the warfare’s finish, Gwynn had been wounded 24 instances.
“When bullets are flying, there isn’t any ache,” he later stated.
He credited his religion and bodily conditioning for carrying him by way of the battle.
His decorations included two Silver Stars, three Bronze Stars, 12 Purple Hearts, the Presidential Unit Quotation with two bronze clusters, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Fight Infantryman Badge and the Prisoner of Conflict Medal. The variety of Purple Hearts alone locations Gwynn among the many most-decorated American fight veterans of his era and in historical past.
France awarded him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, its highest order of benefit, conferred in a Nov. 7, 2012, letter from then-President Francois Hollande for Gwynn’s function within the 1944 liberation of France.
A 2013 fireplace at his Tullahoma residence destroyed most of the authentic medals. Replacements have been issued within the years that adopted.
A Quiet Life and a Ultimate Salute
After coming back from Korea, Gwynn owned and operated Gwynn Equipment Restore in Tullahoma, served as a jail minister and remained a longtime member of First Baptist Church on the town. He grew to become a well-recognized determine round Tullahoma properly into previous age, handing out donuts, sweet and small luggage of meals to neighbors and strangers alike.
Starting in 2019, the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System and the Tullahoma neighborhood started throwing him an annual celebration. Final June, town’s mayor proclaimed June 2, 2025, as “Tommy Gwynn Day.”
When requested concerning the secret to his longevity at his 106th birthday celebration, Gwynn stated, “All the time smile and have coronary heart.”
He was preceded in dying by his spouse, Sarah Gwynn; his son, Thomas Gwynn Jr.; his daughter, Julia Gwynn; his dad and mom, Garland Ray and Lula Mae Tacker Gwynn; his brother, John Albert Gwynn; and three sisters, Edna Myers Lucas, Frances Davis and Mary Beard Boldreghini. He’s survived by two nephews, Claude Jones and Vernon Jones.
Visitation is about for Wednesday, April 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Kilgore Funeral House, 215 Mitchell Blvd. in Tullahoma. A service will observe at 1 p.m., officiated by Dr. J. Herbert Hester. Burial with full navy honors will happen at Bethany Cemetery in Normandy, Tennessee.
The city the place the best Ranger that ever was shall be laid to relaxation shares its identify with the stretch of French coast he stormed ashore at over 80 years in the past.
