Peacock, Thomas Arthur, born 18-02-1920, the son of Moses B. Peacock ( 1885-1960) and Alma V., born Harvey, Peacock, born 06-03-1887 in Atchison County, Kansas, USA and died 27-06-1948 (lage 61)
of 10, Queen Street, Washington.
Thomas had one brother, Harvey Lincoln Peacock ( 1926–2007)
Thomas was a graduate of Washington State college and had taken his law degree at the University of Michigan earlier in the month of the accident.eacock joined the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment
in Camp Toccoa, 1942,
and was assigned as a Supply Officer. Thomas jumped into Normandy on D Day,
fought through the campaign. up to Hitler’s Berghof building.
The regiment was initially formed during World War II at Camp Toccoa, Georgia, in 1942 where it earned its nickname, “Currahees”,
after the camp’s Currahee Mountain. Paratroopers in training ran from Camp Toccoa up Currahee Mountain and back with the shout “three miles up, three miles down!” (5 km up, 5 km down). The Cherokee word, which translates to “Stand Alone”, also became the unit’s motto. Members of the unit wear the spade (♠) symbol on the helmet outer and the Screaming Eagle patch (indicating membership in the 101st Airborne Division) on the left sleeve. Its first commanding officer was Colonel Robert Frederick Sink,
and the 506th was sometimes referred to as the “Five-Oh-Sink”. On 10-06-1943, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment officially became part of the 101st Airborne Division, commanded by Major General Lee, William Carey “Bill”. Father Of The Airborne
The 506th would participate in three major battles during the war: D-Day landings, Operation Market Garden, and the Battle of the Bulge. They would have participated in Operation Varsity, but SHAEF decided to use the 17th Airborne Division
under command of Major General William Maynadier “Bud” Miley
instead.
The airborne component of Operation Market Garden, Operation Market was composed of American units (82nd Airborne Division
, under command Matthew Bunker “Old Iron Tits” Ridgeway and
the 101st Airborne Division,
and the IX Troop Carrier Command), British units (1st Airborne Division) and Polish units, 1st Independent Parachute Brigade
under command of General Brigadier Stanisław Sosabowski
. The airborne units were dropped near several key bridges along the axis of advance of the ground forces, Operation Garden, with the objective of capturing the bridges intact in order to allow a deep penetration into the German-occupied Netherlands and to capture the key bridge crossing the River Rhine at Arnhem. 
The 506th fought in the Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 to January 1945. In December, the unit, along with the rest of the 101st Airborne Division, was resting and refitting in France after Operation Market Garden. On 16 December, General Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower,
the Supreme Allied Commander on the Western Front, ordered them to move into the Belgian town of Bastogne by 18 December, so that the Germans would not gain access to its important crossroads. The short-notice move left the unit short of food, ammunition, arms, men, and winter clothing. The unit, along with the rest of the 101st Airborne, was encircled immediately. The 506th was sent to the eastern section of the siege. During the siege, there were reports of problems with tying in the gap in between the 501st PIR
under command of Colonel Howard Ravenscroft “Jumpy” Johnson
and the 506th. To stall the Germans so that the defense could be set up, the 1st Battalion of the 506th (along with Team Desobry from the 10th Armored Division) was sent out to fight the Germans in the towns of Noville and Foy. One-third (about 200 men) of the battalion were killed or wounded, but the unit took out 30 enemy tanks and inflicted 500 to 1,000 casualties. The battalion was put into reserve and the 2nd and 3rd Battalions were put on the lines. A supply drop on 22 December helped to some extent. After the U.S. Third Army,
under General George “Old Blood and Guts” Patton,
broke the encirclement, the 506th stayed on the line and spearheaded the offensive by liberating Foy and Noville in January. They were then transferred to Haguenau and pulled off the line in late February 1945.
The regiment was put back on the line on 2 April, and continued for the rest of the war, taking light casualties. It helped encircle the Ruhr Pocket and capture Hitler;s Berchtesgaden. 
The unit had been promised that they would be in battle for just three days, but the 506th did not return to England for 33 days. Of about 2,000 men who jumped into France, 231 were killed in action, 183 were missing or POWs, and 569 were wounded – about 50% casualties for the Normandy campaign. , then took up occupational duties in Zell am See, Austria. The 506th then began training to be redeployed to the Pacific theater but the war ended in August 1945. 
Death and burial ground of Peacock, Thomas Arthur.
Peacock, Thomas Arthur survived the war and died unfortunately on 27-06-1948 (age 28) on a country road a few miles west of, Palouse, Whitman County, Washington, United States, after a auto accident. , and is buried at the Pullman City Cemetery, Pullman, Whitman County, Washington, VS. Section Block 7 FAIR, Lot 11, Grave 10..











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