Corporal Thomas "Tommy" Marshall Loggins was born on March 12, 1925 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the son of Henry Marshal Loggins (1875-1945) and Minnie Lou Deal (1886-1987). He was the youngest of three children, with his older brother George W. and his older sister Jessie M. Loggins. His father supported his family as as Army soldier who served during WWI in the quartermaster corps from 1917 to 1920. He then reenlisted and by 1930 he and his family were stationed at Camp Humphreys in Fairfax, Virginia. By 1935, he had retired from the Army and shortly afterwards the family relocated to Pensacola sometime on or prior to 1935. They rented a house at 1505 East Strong Street that was built in 1928 and settled down to take it easy. Tommy would attend Pensacola High School where he would become a '39, '40, and '41 star football player prior to his graduation in 1942. Two months later, he married PHS classmate Alice Phillips Yeargin (1925-1983) on August 29, 1942 in Santa Rosa County. She was the daughter of Thomas Henry Yeargin (1888-) and Lurline Phillips (1895-) but for whatever reason, they divorced in 1943.
Alice was the younger sister of Mary Ellen Yeargin, Pensacola High Class of 1938, who married future US Navy Rear Admiral Edward Cobb Outlaw (1914-1996). He graduated from Annapolis in 1935 and attended flight training at NAS Pensacola in 1937. It was there that he met Mary Ellen whose father was the manager of the prestigious Coca-Cola Bottling Works in Pensacola. Outlaw became the squadron commander of the famous "Outlaw's Bandits" that flew life and death sorties over the embattled Pacific island of Guadalcanal. In one aerial battle, Outlaw shot down five enemy planes making him an ace in one day. Edward and Mary Ellen would divorce in 1968, but a year later she died in her burning home in Warrington.
In the meantime, when the war came to Pensacola Tommy enlisted on April 14, 1943 just after he turned 18-years old. He was sent to Camp Blanding, Florida for processing and orientation where Tommy volunteered to become a paratrooper. Thus, he was assigned to the 460th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion that had just been activated on March 15, 1943. The new battalion was ordered to Camp Toccoa, GA for temporary duty in connection with the reception, screening and assignment of the new recruits. Tommy made the "cut" and was shipped to Camp Mackall, NC where the 17th Airborne Division was being formed. After their training at Mackall the men were ready for parachute training at Fort Benning. Arriving at Benning in late August 1943, the battalion was put through the rigorous pace of jump school and made their first of five qualifying jumps on September 13th. Six days later, the artillery paratroopers boarded the train and returned to Mackall with their new shiny silver wings on their chest. Once they disembarked, it was a fast paced four and a half months of training with parachute jumps now an integral part of their operations.
Then, something went terribly wrong! Whether part of a training accident or whatever, a supposedly unarmed bazooka rocket exploded in the Headquarters Battery barracks fatally wounding Tommy and seriously injuring several others, including loss of limbs. His family received a telegram giving them very little information in reference to the circumstances. But his injuries were too great, and he succumbed a short time later on January 24, 1944. His remains were brought home by train and unloaded at the L&N depot across from today's Civic Center. He was buried with military honors in St. John's Cemetery where he is surrounded by his family today.
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