Thomas J. Glennon
Rank: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps
Serial: 00383183
Unit: Marine Night Fighter Squadron 531 (VMF-531)
Entered service from: Pennsylvania
Died:
Burial: Missing in Action or Buried at Sea — Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines
Awards: Air Medal, Purple Heart
See also: Tribute to Thomas J. Glennon from a friend
Left: Thomas Glennon, 1940 (Photo courtesy of Joseph Bucola). Right: Sergeant Thomas Glennon.
Sergeant Thomas J. Glennon was born in Camden NJ in 1922 to James A. and Margaret Glennon. The oldest of four children, he had three sisters, Ann, Rosemary, and Catherine.
The family moved around during the 1920s. The 1924 City Directory shows them at 831 Spruce Street. The 1929 Directory states that James Glennon and family had moved to 916 Newton Avenue, and that James Glennon was operating a second-hand furniture store at that address. By April of 1930 the Glennon family had rented a home at 558 Spruce Street in Camden NJ, a few doors away from veteran Camden politician C. Harry Price, who lived at 564 Spruce Street.
The Glennon family later moved to 816 South 6th Street. His father was a veteran of World War I and worked as a compositor at the RCA-Victor plant in Camden. Known to his friends as Tommy, he was a June 1940 graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden, NJ, where he was a star shortstop, playing on Coach Grover Wearshing’s 1940 championship team. Other members of his graduating class included Frank J. Blair, Angelo DiCamillo, and Teddy Yurkiewicz.
Thomas Glennon enlisted in the Marines on March 17, 1941, and qualified for flight duty. He served as a radio operator and top turret gunner on a Lockheed PV-1 Vega, as part of Marine Night Fighter Squadron 531 (VMF-531).
Thomas Glennon was killed in action on December 4, 1943. He was survived by his parents and sisters, who by then had moved to 802 Mount Ephraim Avenue.
Photos
Left: Tom Glennon lived at 816 S. 6th St. in Camden, near the corner of S. 6th & Division Streets during his high school days. The house is no longer standing, but sat between those pictured above. Right: By the time of the war, his family had moved to this home at 802 Mt. Ephraim Ave. in Camden.
Woodrow Wilson High School and the 1940 championship baseball team, coached by Grover Wearshing.
Thomas Glennon was the top turret gunner on a Lockheed PV-1 Vega.
Parents Get Medal of Son Dead in War
Camden Courier-Post
Presentation to Marine’s Kin, in Brunner’s Office, Lauds Heroism
Mr. and Mrs. James A. Glennon, 802 Mt. Ephraim avenue, were presented with an Air medal awarded posthumously to their son, Marine Sgt. Thomas J. Glennon, yesterday in Mayor Brunner’s office.
Lt. Col. Donald L. Dickson, veteran of Pacific fighting and now public relations officer for the Eastern Procurement Division, read the citation and presented the medal. Brunner spoke to the family.
Sergeant Glennon, 23, a member of a Marine night fighter squadron in the Solomons, was reported missing in December, 1943, and now is presumed dead.
He was the only son and is survived by three sisters who attended yesterday’s ceremony—Ann, 21; Rosemary, 20, and Catherine, 18.
His citation read:
“For meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight as turret gunner of a PV-1 night fighter attached to Marine Night Fighter Squadron 531 in combat against the enemy Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands area November 13 and December 3, 1943. As a result of his keen observation and alert attention to duty, Sergeant Glennon was the first to inform his pilot of the visual presence of seven enemy bombers. Although well aware of the tremendous odds, he coolly and accurately fired his turret guns assisting in the destruction of one of the hostile planes and contributing materially to the our technical knowledge of night fighting. On a subsequent occasion, he participated in a second night attack launched singly against a larger force of enemy aircraft in which another Japanese bomber was destroyed. His extreme courage and unswerving devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”
Sergeant Glennon’s father, a lifelong resident of Camden, is a compositor at RCA. A veteran of World War I, Glennon was a recipient of the Purple Heart.
A Letter from Joe Bucola
In March of 2002, Tom Glennon’s boyhood friend Joe Bucola was kind enough to share his memories. His letter is reprinted here with Mr. Bucola’s permission.
March 20, 2002
Dear Mr. Cohen,
Thanks for asking about Tom Glennon. I lived on Division Street in Camden (564) and Tom lived on 6th Street which looked into Division Street. He was between Pine and Spruce and Division Street was cut off in between by 6th Street which was N. and South.
I believe his family moved to Mount Ephraim Avenue during the war because I only remember them living on 6th.
The last time I heard from Tom I was in the Army Air Corps working as an airplane mechanic and stationed in New Caledonia, South Pacific. It was in the middle of 1943 and Tom was flying as a radioman and gunner on a two engine Marine Corp bomber from the island of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. He wrote a couple of pages and then he said he had to get ready for a night flight. I heard later that his plane was shot down in flames over the ocean. That explains the missing part. He was a nice guy and a friend.
The only photo I have is from his yearbook.
I hope I helped you.
Sincerely,
Joe Bucola
Tom Glennon wrote the following in Joe Bucola’s yearbook:
Lots of luck to a future grad and the best friend I ever had—Tommy