Meehan III, Thomas, born 08-07-1921 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA 
to Colonel Thomas Meehan (1896–1963) and his wife Marian M, born McCarty Meehan (1898–1982). Thomas had two brothers, John Franklin Meehan (1923–1984) 
and Robert Benjamin Meehan. (1926–2003) 
. Thomas enjoyed drawing and painting as a hobby. After graduating from Germantown High School in 1939, he completed two years at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Arts to become a commercial artist, but the war intervened before graduation. Meehan enlisted in his hometown of Philadelphia Pennsylvania on 16-03-1941.
After serving in 502nd PIR, Company B – 101st Airborne Reenactors 
under command of Major George Pierce Howell,
`
after arriving in the United Kingdom, Meehan transferred to Company “E” (Easy) to replace the not very populair Captain Herbert Maxwell Sobel,
who had been transferred to command a parachute training school for non-combat officers. Major George Pierce Howell later Brigadier General survived the war and died 10-06-1979 (age 77) in Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, USA.
Death and burial ground of Meehan III Thomas.
On D-Day, Meehan was killed when the C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft he was a passenger in was hit by German anti-aircraft fire. 
The plane crashed near the village of Beuzeville-au-Plain (approximately 2 miles northeast of the town of Saint-Mere-Eglise)
,
killing the crew and the paratroopers aboard, including Company “E”‘s entire company headquarters group. The Crew of Plane # 66: Pilot: 1st Lt Harold A. Capelluto Co Pilot: John J. Fanelli, Radioman: Norman E. Thompson, Navigator: Sgt Bernard Friedman, Engineer: Sgt Albert R. Tilloston.Easy Company HQ: Lt Thomas Meehan, 1 Sgt Bill Evans, Murray Roberts, Richard Owen, Elmer Murray, Carl Riggs, Herman Collins, Ralph Wimer, Jerry Wentzel, George Elliott, John Miller, William McGonigal, Gerald Snider, Sergio Moya, Thomas Warren, Elmer Telstad, Ernest Oats.
The wreckage of the plane wasn’t confirmed found until the 1950s, so until then, he and all the men on the plane were missing in action. Meehan was 22 years old at the time of his death. Private John Marvin Steele (29-11-1912 – 16-03-1969) was the American paratrooper who landed on the pinnacle of the church tower in Sainte-Mère-Église, the first village to be liberated by the United States Army during Operation Overlord on June 6, 1944. Metropolis, Illinois, U.S.
Before takeoff, Meehan wrote a letter and handed it out the door of the C-47 to be sent to his wife: Anne Shore Gaines (1920–2013) (married 1942) 
Dearest Anne:
In a few hours, I’m going to take the best company of men in the world into France. We’ll give the bastards hell. Strangely, I’m not particularly scared. But in my heart is a terrific longing to hold you in my arms. I love you Sweetheart – forever. Your Tom.
After Thomas’s death, and following D-Day, he had been replaced by the famous 1st Lieutenant. Richard Davis “Dick” Winters.
to head up 506th Easy Company. 
The Easy Company was formed in 1942 and was first deployed during the Normandy landings. Its first real combat action was in the early morning of D-Day, when it had to neutralize a German battery of four 105mm guns aimed at Utah Beach. The company then led the Battle of Carentan, took part in Operation Market Garden, held its ground during the Battle of Bastogne, led the counteroffensive during the Battle of the Bulge, fought in the Rhineland campaign and captured Hitler’s Kehlsteinhaus. 
The last surviving member of the Company, Private Bradford Clark “Brad” Freeman, 
died on 03-07-2022 at the age of 97.
He shares a grave site with the C-47 aircrew and fellow paratroopers of that flight. On 06-06-2000, a memorial 
was dedicated in the Beuzeville-au-Plain church to Meehan and the other men that were killed when the plane was shot down.
Leave a Reply