Fallen WWII soldier’s remains finally laid to rest in Rhode Island
EXETER, R.I. (WLNE) — At Rhode Island’s Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery Monday afternoon, the remains of an East Providence native and fallen World War II soldier were finally laid to rest.
The remains of Army Pfc. George Thomas were positively identified this spring by the United States Defense POW/MIA agency.
Thomas, 31 at the time, was killed in Hurtgen, Germany in the fall of 1944. His remains were returned from Germany to the U.S. in July of 2021.
The U.S. Army Human Resources Command shares this photo of Pfc. George B. Thomas.
“To bring him home like this is beyond what I can even believe,” said Richard Thomas, George’s nephew and one of his last living relatives.
Thomas’ nephew was only three-years-old at the time of his death.
After his uncle’s ceremony Monday, he remembered his grandparents, saying, “They loved [George] and were proud of him. There wasn’t much said about him. They didn’t talk much.”
Statewide veterans, multiple police departments, and local leaders processed from East Providence to the Rhode Island Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery in Exeter. A short ceremony was held inside the chapel on the property.
