Existing comment:
In memory of Clarence Crase Thomas
Lieutenant, US Navy of the Class of 1905, USNA
Master of Science, 1916, Columbia University
born at Grass Valley, California 26 December, 1886
Died at sea, 28 April 1917, from exposure as a result of the destruction, that day, by a German submarine of the SS Vacuum, in which vessel he was serving in command of an armed guard, the United States of America then being at war with Germany.
The Navy Cross was awarded posthumously for distinguished service in the line of his profession.
He was the first officer of any of the armed services of the United States to lose his life in conflict with the enemy in the World War.
Erected by his classmates to a man of determination who was faithful unto death. |