John Thomas MacKall

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John Thomas MacKall
MacKall Portrait.jpeg
Private John Thomas MacKall c. 1940s
Nickname(s)Tommy
BornMay 17, 1920
Negley, Ohio, U.S.
DiedNovember 12, 1942 (aged 22)
Gibraltar
Buried
Glenview Cemetery
East Palestine, Ohio, U.S.
AllegianceUnited States
Branch United States Army
Years of service1942
Rank Private
Service number 35-281-555
Unit 509th Infantry Regiment
Battles / wars World War II
Awards Purple Heart

John Thomas "Tommy" MacKall (May 17, 1920 – November 12, 1942) was a United States Army paratrooper during World War II who was killed in action during Operation Torch, the U.S. Army’s first major airborne operation. He is recorded as one of the first American paratrooper casualties of the war. [1] [2] [3] Since 1943, he has been the namesake of Camp Mackall.

Contents

Early life and family

MacKall was born May 17, 1920, in Negley, Ohio and grew up on a farm in Wellsville, Ohio. [4] [5] [6] He was the eldest son of Roy Floyd MacKall and Alda May Toland Newton MacKall. [7]

He played on the East Palestine High School football team and quit school after the tenth grade. [8] [9]

From age 16 to 21, he worked in the pottery trade at the Sterling China Company, and was a member of Local Union Number 42. [10] [9] [11]

World War II

MacKall was drafted into military service in Lacarne, Ohio on January 7, 1942 and received his basic training at Camp Wolters, Texas. [9] [5] He volunteered for parachute training at Fort Benning. [12] [13] After his training, he deployed for overseas duty with the first unit of the airborne command. He served in Company E, 2nd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, nickname "Geronimos" under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Edson Raff. [14] [15] [16]

It was reported that MacKall volunteered to fight as a paratrooper because it offered "the best opportunity to fight Hitler." [17]

MacKall loved to read and write, and would stay up late at night writing short stories. In his letters back home, MacKall wrote that he had penned a book on his experiences and had interested a publisher in England. The only manuscript was lost after his death. [18]

"You know me, I sweat a lot of things out, but nothing serious ever happens. If it should though, I want you to please turn my defense bonds over to Shirley so she can go to college. Now, don't worry about me. When you hear the song 'We'll Meet Again,' just imagine I'm singing it to you because that's the way I feel. I have no doubt but what I'll return."

— John Thomas MacKall, Last letter to his mother, published in the Times Herald

Death

In Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, during an airborne mission, he was mortally wounded in an attack by French Vichy aircraft as he landed near Oran, Algeria. [19] [20] [21] Seven paratroopers died at the scene and several were wounded, including Mackall. He was evacuated by air to a British hospital at Gibraltar, where he died on November 12, 1942. [14] [22] He had been wounded on November 8, the day that construction began at the Hoffman Air Borne Camp. [23] [24] [25]

After his death, the Army learned that MacKall had a hand deformity which he managed to keep as a secret to allow for him to be enlisted and pass the Army physical. [6]

Originally buried in Gibraltar, he was re-interred with full military honors at Glenview Cemetery in East Palestine, Ohio in 1944. [7] [17] [26]

Awards and honors

MacKall was a recipient of a Purple Heart, and cited posthumously by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. [7] [27]

He is an honoree on the World War II Memorial registry. [28] MacKall is the namesake of "Pvt. Tommy MacKall VFW Post 5647" in Wellsville, Ohio. [29] [30]

Camp MacKall

On February 8, 1943, Hoffman Air Borne Camp was renamed "Camp MacKall" by the United States Department of War in MacKall's honor in General Order Number 6. [31] [32] [33]

A ceremony was held honoring him in May 1943, which was attended by his mother, stepfather, and siblings, and Major General Elbridge Chapman, commanding general of the Airborne Command. [8] [34] The ceremony included a mass chute descent by over 200 paratroopers, glider demonstration, and parade. [35] [10] [36]

A bronze plaque was unveiled honoring MacKall, and later replaced with a granite monument at the Camp's entrance. [7] A highway historical marker bears his name. [37] [38] [34]

Private MacKall was included in a question in the Pittsburg Press How's Your I.Q.? quiz series. [39] A tribute Calvalcade of America radio program about MacKall and his service was aired on NBC Radio in April 1943. [40]

MacKall's story is included in Gregory Hall's 2006 novel, Not Forgotten, [41] and Tony Peluso's 2013 novel, Waggoners Gap. [42]

References

  1. ↑ Rottman, Gordon L. (November 20, 2012). US Army Paratrooper in the Pacific Theater 1943–45. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN   978-1-78096-131-6.
  2. ↑ Pleasants, Julian M. (October 3, 2018). Home Front: North Carolina during World War II. University Press of Florida. ISBN   978-0-8130-6384-3.
  3. ↑ Ragan, Alan (November 3, 2010). "Skits & Bits". The Dickson Herald . pp. DA6.
  4. ↑ Melvin, Kenny (June 19, 2018). "Dedication Ceremony Held at Camp Mackall". Richmond Observer. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Private John Thomas Mackall". Library of Congress . Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  6. 1 2 Vlahos, Mark C. (January 10, 2023). Leading the Way to Victory: A History of the 60th Troop Carrier Group 1940-1945. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-1-63758-483-5.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "MacKall, John Thomas "Tommy". | WW2 Gravestone". ww2gravestone.com. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Associated Press: Wellsville Mother Opens Camp Honoring Son". Youngstown Vindicator . May 3, 1943. p. 1.
  9. 1 2 3 "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 - 1946 (Enlistment Records)". aad.archives.gov. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  10. 1 2 "Paratroopers Take to the Air". The Free Lance-Star. May 8, 1943. p. 5.
  11. ↑ "Private John MacKall". The Potters Herald. November 19, 1942. p. 2.
  12. ↑ "Marker: I-34". ncmarkers.com. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Wellsville Youth is Qualified as Jumper in Chute Troops". The Evening Review. May 22, 1942. p. 6.
  14. 1 2 Greenwood, John T. (2007). Airborne Forces at War. Naval Institute Press. p. 14. ISBN   978-1-59114-028-3.
  15. ↑ Hagerman, Bart, ed. (1997). USA Airborne: 50th Anniversary. Turner Publishing Company. p. 409. ISBN   978-0-938021-90-2.
  16. ↑ Gardner, Ian; Day, Roger (July 20, 2011). Tonight We Die As Men: The untold story of Third Battalion 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment from Toccoa to D-Day. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN   978-1-84908-948-7.
  17. 1 2 "First Americans to Fall on Soil of Africa Buried with Military Honors". Lewiston Morning Tribune . November 16, 1942. p. 2.
  18. ↑ Parker, Pegge (May 9, 1943). "Mrs. Newton's Thoughts Will Be for Her First Born, Lost in Africa". Times Herald . p. 40.
  19. ↑ "Camp Mackall: 1943-1945". arsof-history.org. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  20. ↑ Bando, Mark (May 8, 2011). 101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles in World War II. Zenith Press. ISBN   978-1-61060-256-3.
  21. ↑ Haskew, Michael E. (August 6, 2024). The Airborne in World War II: An Illustrated History of America's Paratroopers in Action. Macmillan. ISBN   978-1-250-12447-0.
  22. ↑ "First Anniversary of MacKall's Death Observed". News and Record. November 13, 1943. p. 7.
  23. ↑ Ambrose, Stephen E. (1992). Band Of Brothers. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. ISBN   978-0-7434-2990-0.
  24. ↑ Jankowiak, Loic (October 18, 2016). "Pvt. John T. 'Tommy' Mackall is the first paratrooper to be killed in combat in North Africa". First Airborne Task Force - The Forgotten Paratroopers (in French). Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  25. ↑ Ambrose, Stephen E. (June 25, 2013). Stephen E. Ambrose From D-Day to Victory E-book Box Set: Band of Brothers, D-Day, Pegasus Bridge. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-1-4767-5581-6.
  26. ↑ "First American Boy Buried in Africa". Red Bluff Tehama County Daily News. November 16, 1942. p. 2.
  27. ↑ "MacKall Brothers at Camp Blanding". St. Petersburg Times . July 11, 1943. p. 69.
  28. ↑ "Honoree Plaque". WWII Memorial Registry. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  29. ↑ "East Liverpool Review". The Evening Review. January 31, 1961. p. 3.
  30. ↑ "Post Roster". vfwoh.org. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  31. ↑ "Background". 508pir.org. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  32. ↑ Tyner, K. Blake (2005). Robeson County in Vintage Postcards. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN   978-0-7385-4162-4.
  33. ↑ Salecker, Gene Eric (August 17, 2010). Blossoming Silk Against the Rising Sun: U.S. and Japanese Paratroopers at War in the Pacific in World War II. Stackpole Books. ISBN   978-0-8117-4235-1.
  34. 1 2 "Camp Mackall (I-34) | NC DNCR". www.dncr.nc.gov. December 29, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  35. ↑ Olsmith, Vernon G. (1963). Recollections of an Old Soldier.
  36. ↑ "MacKall is Honored at Camp Dedication". Richmond County Journal. May 3, 1943. p. 1.
  37. ↑ "Camp Mackall Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved February 14, 2025.
  38. ↑ "Observe Date of MacKall's Death". Youngstown Vindicator . November 14, 1943. p. 25.
  39. ↑ "How's Your I.Q.?". The Pittsburgh Press . June 18, 1943. p. 42.
  40. ↑ "Paratroopers' Camp named for Wellsville Hero to be Dedicated". The Evening Review. April 27, 1943. p. 2.
  41. ↑ Hall, Gregory (2006). Not Forgotten. Trafford Publishing. ISBN   978-1-4251-0135-0.
  42. ↑ Peluso, Tony (January 30, 2013). Waggoners Gap. Warriors Publishing Group.
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