O'Connor, Thomas Henry

Thomas Henry O’Connor was born on December 19, 1896, in Springfield, Massachusetts to Johanna Bresnaham and John O'Connor. 

He was a clerk in Brookline, Massachusetts, in April 1917 when he entered the American Field Service.  Assigned to SSU 12, he served as an ambulance driver until September 1917.  Subsequently O’Connor enlisted in the U.S. Naval Aviation Force with the rank of Chief Quarter Master (Aviation).  He performed convoy work on the U.S.S. Corona in 1917, learned to fly seaplanes at the Italian Naval Flying School at Lago di Bolsena in 1918, and then served as an instructor in flying and aerial gunnery from June to September 1918.  He received an honorable discharge from the Navy in October 1918.