Thomas Chappell Aldridge -- Soldier Buried at Arlington National Cemetery

 

Thomas Chappell Aldridge was the first member of the family to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, D. C.

Thomas Chappell Aldridge was born in Trigg County, Kentucky on June 24, 1922, the son of Willie Gordon and Rosa Crenshaw Thomas Aldridge He graduated from Trigg County High School in 1940 (after earlier attending school in a one-room school house). After graduation, with the help of the R.O.T.C. (Reserve Officers Training Corp), he found his way to Western Kentucky University. There he was a member of a unit known as the “Pershing Rifles.”  After Pearl Harbor, they all joined the Army together.  Known by his middle name, Chappell ended up in the 42nd Rainbow Division, Infantry.  He was wounded in World War II [stepped on a “shoe mine”] but never received a Purple Heart.  When asked about it later, [kids wanted to know “What are those blue marks on your knee, knuckles and face?”] he said he was too busy “pulling bodies out of trees” to travel to the aid station to submit the proper paperwork.  However, he did receive two Bronze Stars.  After the war and a short stint as part of the Army of Occupation in Austria, he returned to Bowling Green, Kentucky to finish his degree in Physics, thanks to the G.I. Bill.   While there he met and married Navy veteran Martha Jane Morrison.

Back in the Army, Chappell was sent to Korea and later Okinawa.  After that, he earned a second Bachelor’s degree, this time in Nuclear Physics, at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.  He reached the rank of Major before retiring in 1964 after 22 years of active duty service. He had a second career with the Navy as a civilian Nuclear Effects Engineer.  During the 22 years as a Navy civilian, he earned an MBA from the University of Arkansas.  In August 1990, he attended the 50th reunion of his Trigg County High School class of 1940 at Kenlake State Resort Hotel.

Chappell died only one year later, on August 15, 1991.  On August 21, 1991, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His services at the cemetery included a caisson, a small marching band and a riderless horse.  His widow, and his two children, Eileen Aldridge Shropshire and Thomas Chappell Aldridge, Jr. were present, as well as one nephew, Robert Earl Hite.  His son, Thomas Chappell Aldridge, Jr., gave the eulogy in Ft. Meyers Chapel before the burial.

His wife, Martha Morrison Aldridge, died on January 13, 2011 and was also buried in Arlington National Cemetery. 

 

 

 

THE LINEAGE:

(Thomas Chappell Aldridge was the son of Willie Gordon and Rosie Crenshaw Thomas Aldridge, grandson of Robert Allison and Emma Nora Cunningham Thomas and great-grandson of Stanley and Emily Ann Light Thomas.  Stanley was the second child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas.  Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.  Mary was the seventh child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges)