Veterans Day, Nov. 11: Leonard J. Thom, Naval Hero

Leonard J. Thom was the oldest of eight children, born to Walter and Maye Thom. Walter Thom worked as a blacksmith. Walter’s father J. J. Thom, pictured below, had a blacksmith shop on Hayes Avenue, next to the American Crayon plant.
In 1936, Leonard J. Thom graduated from Sandusky High School, where he was a standout football player. He went on to play football at Heidelberg College, and Ohio State University. Thom was a guard for the Buckeyes. After playing semi-pro football for the Columbus Bulls, he coached high school football for a year in Columbus.

During World War Two, Leonard J. Thom, became an Ensign in the Navy, and was an Executive Officer of the PT-109, serving under John F. Kennedy. When the torpedo boat was cut in half in August of 1943, Leonard Thom and Jack Kennedy both assisted in the rescue of the men aboard ship. Both men were awarded the Purple Heart.

In 1944, Leonard Thom married Kate Holway in Youngstown, Ohio. He was working at an insurance agency and commuting to Columbus for college classes when he was tragically killed in an automobile accident in October of 1946, at the age of 29. The “Leonard J. Thom Memorial Scholarship Fund” at Sandusky High School helps to keep his memory alive.

USS Sandusky

Did you know that there was a ship of the United States Navy named after the city of Sandusky? Actually, there were two ships called the USS Sandusky. The first was an ironclad steamer, built in Pittsburgh during the Civil War and launched in 1865. The first USS Sandusky did not serve for very long -- it was sold for scrap in 1873. (It is not known whether any images of this ship exist.)

The second USS Sandusky (PF-54), a Tacoma-class frigate, came into existence during World War II. Commissioned at New Orleans in 1944, the Sandusky served in the Pacific on convoy duty and submarine patrols through March 1945. In July 1945, the Sandusky was decommissioned and loaned to the Soviet Union under the lend-lease program for four years. From 1953 until 1970 (when it was scrapped), the ship known originally as the USS Sandusky served the government of Japan, now an ally of the United States.