Army Ranger Tommy Gwynn dies at 106

There are some people for whom superlatives are coined.

Thomas Edward “Tommy” Gwynn, known throughout his adopted hometown of Tullahoma, Tennessee, as “the greatest Ranger that ever was,” died Monday, April 6, at the Life Care Center there, according to an obituary issued by Kilgore Funeral Home. He was two months from his 107th birthday and was the town’s oldest resident.

According to the pundits, you grow old by living a peaceful, tranquil, stress-free life. Well, that’s all right for the pundits.

Gwynn was born June 2, 1919, in Moscow, a farming town in Fayette County east of Memphis. He enlisted in 1941 and, two years later, earned a spot with the U.S. Army Rangers, the light infantry force activated in 1942 under Maj. William O. Darby.

Gwynn shipped to England with his unit in 1943 and waded ashore at Normandy on June 6, 1944. He marked the date as a second birthday every year afterward, telling the Moore County News he celebrated it because he survived.

Maybe he should have compromised on June 4th? Anyway:

From the beachhead, Gwynn pushed east through the Allied breakout, fought through the snowy Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge and reached the Elbe River on May 8, 1945, the day Germany surrendered. He came home that November.

In 1950, he was called back to service and shipped to Korea, where he took part in the Sept. 15 amphibious landing at Inchon, Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s flanking strike against North Korean forces.

Mr. Gwynn made it through D-Day, the Bulge, AND Inchon?

On two separate occasions during the Korean campaign, enemy troops took him prisoner. Both times, he broke out and returned to American lines.

Troops called him “Little Horse” for his speed and stamina under fire. He also earned a battlefield promotion to first lieutenant.

By the war’s end, Gwynn had been wounded 24 times.

And “only” got 12 Purple Hearts. My math says he was shortchanged.

His decorations included two Silver Stars, three Bronze Stars, 12 Purple Hearts, the Presidential Unit Citation with two bronze clusters, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Prisoner of War Medal. The number of Purple Hearts alone places Gwynn among the most-decorated American combat veterans of his generation and in history.

France awarded him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, its highest order of merit, conferred in a Nov. 7, 2012, letter from then-President Francois Hollande for Gwynn’s role in the 1944 liberation of France.

Like most, after warfighting he settled back into civilian life.

After returning from Korea, Gwynn owned and operated Gwynn Appliance Repair in Tullahoma, served as a jail minister and remained a longtime member of First Baptist Church in town. He became a familiar figure around Tullahoma well into old age, handing out donuts, candy and small bags of food to neighbors and strangers alike.  Military.com

Read that list of awards again. Utterly amazing career.  Yeah, quiet, stress-free….

Category: Army, Korea, We Remember, WWII