Background
Clyde Aristide Thomason was born in Atlanta, Georgia on May 23, 1914 to parents Clyde Aristide Thomason and Sarah Zipporah (née Evans) Thomason. His mother died when he was only three and afterwards his father married Amie (née Maxsom) Thomason. He graduated High School.

Prewar
US Marine CorpsDuring December 1934, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) in Savannah, Georgia. As a Marine, he went by simply "Clyde Thomason" and did not use his middle initial or Junior. Thomason was assigned to the Marine Detachment aboard USS Augusta (CA-31), flagship of the Asiatic Fleet. At the expiration of his enlistment, he was honorably discharged in 1939 but was retained in the Fleet Marine Force Reserve. As a civilian, he worked at Fire Companies Adjustment Bureau, Inc. in Albany, Georgia in February 1940.

Wartime History
US Marine CorpsDuring January 1942 he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR). After the start of the Pacific War, he requested a combat assignment and volunteered for assignment to the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion "Marine Raiders" (Carlson Raiders) under Commanding Officer (C. O.) Lt. Col. Evans Carlson with Executive Officer Major James Roosevelt (son of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt). This was the first U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) operation launched from submarines.

Makin Raid
On August 8, 1942 at Pearl Harbor, the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion "Marine Raiders" (Carlson Raiders) Company A and Company B embarked aboard USS Argonaut (SM-1) and USS Nautilus (SS-168) then depart for the "Makin Raid" arriving off Makin Island by August 16, 1942.

On August 17, 1942 at 3:30am submarines surfaced and deploy rubber rafts with outboard engines to land the Marines on Makin Island. Ashore, the "Makin Raid" destroyed installations, disrupt the enemy and divert reinforcements to Guadalcanal. After killing 83 Japanese and destroying installations, ships and two flying boats by Sgt Buck Stidham and Sgt Walter Carroll using their Boys Anti-Tank rifle. During the raid, Sgt Thomason landed the advance element of the assault echelon and eliminated a sniper then led an assault on a Japanese position when he was killed.

By midnight on August 18, 1942, the Marines were forced to evacuate in the face of Japanese air attacks and reinforcements and left their dead behind. The survivors used their rubber boats to return to the submarines. A total of nineteen Marines were officially listed as Missing In Action (MIA) including Sgt Thomason. For his leadership and personal valor during the Makin Raid, he later earned the Medal of Honor, posthumously.

Awards
US Marine CorpsThomason earned the Medal of Honor, posthumously, Purple Heart, posthumously, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, China Service Medal, American Defense Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one star and World War II Victory Medal. Thomason was the first enlisted Marine to earned the Medal of Honor in World War II. During January 1943 his Medal of Honor was presented to his step mother, Mrs. Amie Thomason by Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal in a ceremony in Washington, D.C. attended by the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, Lieutenant General Thomas Holcomb.

Source: Pacific Wrecks