Navy AOM 3rd Class Thomas Edward McMillan was born in 1923, the son of Edward "Eddie" McMillan (1892-1937) and Georgie Bellah Moton (1890-1949). His father was a WWI veteran with the Army Service Corps as a cook. His father supported his family as a switchman and brakeman for the Frisco Railroad up until is deaath. His grandparents were Crawford Andress McMillan (1860-1946) and Eliza A. Mason (1864-1917) out of Conecuh County, Alabama.
His father Edward passed away in 1937 and was buried in the Beulah Baptist Church Cemetery while his mother Georgia died in 1949 and was buried in Bayview Cemetery. His mother was married first to George Washington Cauley (1876-1921), a WWI veteran and a ship's carpenter at Bruce Dry Docks.
Information is lacking as to when Thomas enlisted in the US Navy but we do know that he was assigned to Squadron VP-74 that was operating off Bermuda on anti-submarine warfare. In 1942, the German submarines were at their deadliest level sending hundreds of thousand tons of shipping to the depths below. But on June 3, 1942, America was taking the war directly to the menace below not only through its sleek destroyers but also from the skies above. That day Thomas and his fellow crewmen were flying a Martin PBM-3D seaplane with a range of 3,000 miles and armament of twin 50 caliber machine guns in its nose, dorsal, and tail turrets, plus two waist guns with a crew of twelve. Sadly, the plane never returned from its patrol and all twelve men were never heard from again!
When the aircraft failed to return, a search was carried out covering 33,000 square miles but was finally discontinued due to bad weather. The investigators believed the plane was caught in a violent downdraft probably while circling at low altitude and hooked a wing into the water. There is a possibility of structural failure, but that is unlikely since the searching planes encountered almost the same turbulent conditions. Enemy gunfire, would surely have given the radioman time to transmit a message, as would any other type of deferred forced landing. All personnel aboard who did not perish immediately in the crash certainly did so shortly thereafter, since it would be impossible for personnel to remain in a rubber boat in those rough seas for more than a few minutes.
The missing crew were: Pilot: Ens. John H.Cushman, Ens. William B.Trapp, Ens. Slton W.Davies, Anthony Javonovich, Amm1c, Harvey Peterson, Em1c. Edward W. Leidy, Amm2c, George W.Eddy, Arm3c, Hugh M Brantham, Aom3c, Thomas E.McMillian, Amm3c, William F.Marshall, Amm3c, Richard L.Amborn, and Amm3c, Walter L.Kuhlmaw.
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