Major Thomas served with the First Special Service Force until it was disbanded in late 1944. He retired as a Brigadier General from the Army Reserve in 1970. From his Obituary: Edward Hill Thomas of Charlotte, Brigadier General, US Army Retired, died May 6, 2010 at his home, at the age of 91. He was born January 10, 1919, in Spartanburg, SC, the son of Carolyn Hill and Arthur Scott Thomas, and grew up in Abbeville, SC. In 1940 he graduated from the Georgia School of Technology with an engineering degree and an Army Reserve commission. Called to Army active duty in early 1941 he served with pioneer parachute units, the 503d and 505th Parachute Infantry Regiments, until he was assigned to the US-Canadian First Special Service Force. In its WWII campaigns in Italy and France he commanded a battalion until deactivation of the Force, after which he commanded a battalion of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division during the Division's occupation of Berlin. Postwar, Thomas continued in the Army Reserve until his retirement in 1970 at which time his assignment was Deputy Director for Unconventional Warfare, in the Department of the Army's Special Warfare Division with the rank of brigadier general. His decorations include Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and awards for participation in seven campaigns and one invasion.