Memorial

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T/5 Thomas W. Call intended to study at Ohio State University, where also his older brother was studying, but when he graduated from high school in 1942 he decided to join the army. He enlisted in Columbus, Ohio on 13 January 1943.

Below is an axtract of the medical history of Normandy of the 3rd Battalion Medical Section of the 506th Parachute Infantry: "SSG Talfourd T. Wynne, of Columbia, CA, and CPL Thomas W. Call, of Columbus, OH, braved machine gun and mortar fire to reach the objective and set up an aid station in a French house. This served the battalion for the first three days. A medical officer of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, CPT Sorenson, guided their efforts here for two days, until the belated arrival of the assistant battalion surgeon, CPT Bernard J. Ryan. This distinguished officer, a graduate of Harvard University Medical School, and a resident of Chateaugay, NY, reach the objective only after a series of adventures probably unequalled by any other medical officer. Landing nearly five miles from his planned drop zone, CPT Ryan made his way, alone and unarmed, through a highly organized system of German machine gun positions and patrols, whose habit it was to spray liberally with machine gun and machine pistol fire any bit of cover thought to conceal an American. Moving at night, and hiding by day -- one day spent under an abandoned parachute less than seventy-five yards from a Russian-German bivouac area -- another twenty-four hours in the neck-deep, ice-cold water of one of the swamps in which the area north of Carentan abound, CPT Ryan displayed almost incredible physical stamina, courage, and devotion to duty. That he reached the objective at all marks him as a very exceptional man, and an excellent officer. The medical personnel at the aid station included three enlisted men of the 326th Medical Company, whose work deserves special mention because of its high quality, and consistent selflessness."

From the book 'Deliver us from Darkness' by Ian Gardner: "One of the younger medics, T/5 Tom Call, was conveying wounded to Zetten when he was killed. Tom was travelling through a barrage in one of our jeeps when he slumped forward absolutely stone dead. The guys checked his body from head to toe but failed to find any obvious wounds. On further examination, Dr. Ryan pulled down on a eyelid and found a tiny penetrating wound hidden by a fold in the skin. Incredibly a sliver of shrapnel had come over the windshield and under the rim of Tom's helmet, penetrating deep into his brain. There was no blood, nothing. We were all totally stunned by the incident."

T/5 Call was first buried at the Temporary American Military Cemetery of Molenhoek, The Netherlands.