Army Private Thomas Maxine "Mutt" Warren was born in Canoe, Escambia County, Alabama on May 5, 1917, the son of Thomas Stevenson Warren (1890-1958) and Katie Ward (1896-1924). The family started out in Canoe, a small town off Highway 31 just east of Atmore. Here, his father followed his chosen vocation as a farmer and would for the remainder of his days. By 1930, they had relocated to Creamer's Mill north of Gonazlez and by 1940 had returned to Canoe where Mutt was staying with his maternal Uncle George A. Ward. Later that same year, Mutt had moved back to Bluff Springs just before he enlisted in the US Army on November 19, 1940 in Montgomery, Alabama.
After his initial training, Mutt was assigned to the 894th Tank Destroyer Battalion at Fort Bragg, NC until they were ordered to England. They set sail on August 6, 1942 and arrived in England on the August 17th having eaten lamb stew all the way to the point they began eating their C-Rations. Once there, they began training on their 75-mm antitank/tank destroyer gun mounted on a half track vehicle called a MC GMC.
When all was ready the battalion set sail again for Oran, North Africa arriving on January 17, 1943. They were thrust into battle of Kassarine Pass on February 19th where the Allies were soundly beaten. Then followed the battle of El Guettar in Tunisia where the Germans were finally routed. However, at the end of the battle Private Thomas Maxine Warren was shot in the chest and fatally wounded. He would finally succumb to his wounds on April 9, 1943. He was buried in a temporary military cemetery and today rest in peace in the North Africa American Cemetery located among the ruins of Ancient Carthage, just outside of Tunis.
Commenti