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Named after his mother's maternal grandfather, Thomas John Hall of West River, MD, <em>Thomas John Hall Trapnell </em>was, born in Yonkers, NY, into an influential and renowned Colonial Virginia family. In a family of seven children, "Trap" represented the midpoint, having two older brothers and a sister, and two younger brothers and a sister.</p>
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As the youngest child in the family of seven, I really never came to know my brother too well because of the age differential of ten years and his meritorious service to our country that often took him abroad for years at a tyime. However, my mother would tell me a rather amusing story about brother Trap that occurred in 1907. Trap had an insatiable penchant for mechanical objects and would twist the dials around on his grandmother Kennedy’s alarm clock. So one day, Trap’s grandmother, Laura Hall Kennedy, grew tired of the shenanigans and chased Trap with a switch in hand. Trap hid behind his mammy Gertie and when grandmother tried to switch Trap, Gertie pulled her apron out as a shield to protect Trap saying, "Ain’t nobody gon hurt ma baby." Trap peeked out from behind Gertie’s copious apron and stared at his grandmother with two big blue eyes. Mother told me that she almost laughed when she saw those blue eyes.</p>
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The Trapnells can be described as a clan having warriors, lawyers, and priests as their primary trinity of professions. Trap’s father, Joseph Trapnell, Jr., was a lawyer, as was his uncle Ben and grandfather Trapnell. At one point in time, Trap seriously considered becoming a priest in the Episcopal Church as his uncle Dick had, however, the military calling that ran deep in the Trapnell fabric and Trap changed his mind in favor of the Army.</p>
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Trap was a college preparatory student and outstanding track star at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA, where he prepared himself academically for greater educational endeavors. Upon graduating from high school in 1923, Trap was offered scholarships to a number of eminent universities, including Princeton, Yale, and Harvard. Instead of attending an Ivy League college, Trap decided to enter West Point and carry on the family tradition. He became president of his class at West Point for the second and third years; the cadet votes were unanimous during the senior year, as no one would run against Trap. Our family would drive to West Point on weekends to attend lacrosse and football games. My brother was an outstanding football player, extremely fast on his feet but, due to his thin physique, was put into the hospital to fatten up between games. His scholastic tenacity and energy output became legendary. I went to Trap’s graduation ball, and he introduced me to his friends; I was fortunate to have my name engraved in gold on his 1927 <em>Howitzer.</em></p>
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Trap’s greatest achievements followed after his years at West Point when he was commissioned in the U.S. Cavalry and served under future GEN Wainwright and George Patton, Jr. Trap was assigned to the Philippines in 1938 and became a star polo player. On the Bataan Peninsula, he would mount one of the last horse cavalry actions in Army history. LTG Trapnell’s military decorations included the Army’s Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest award for valor after the Medal of Honor. He was awarded the Service Cross in January 1942, a month after commanding a rearguard cavalry unit in the Philippines that endured intense enemy gunfire when withdrawing to the Bataan Peninsula. As a major, he commandeered a medical truck and set the vehicle on fire on a bridge to delay the Japanese advance. He then retired with the rear elements of his command, picking up wounded soldiers and rallying his men. He would later state that no man was fit to live who was afraid to die.</p>
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GEN Douglas MacArthur, commander of the army forces in the Philippines, referred to Trapnell’s actions as an example of "extraordinary heroism, setting an inspiring example to his entire regiment."</p>
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With more than 70,000 U.S. and Filipino soldiers, Trap was taken prisoner by the Japanese when enemy forces overran the Bataan Peninsula in April 1942. He marched more than 60 miles to a camp where he was deprived of food, water, and rest.</p>
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In the 1950s and early 1960s, Trap held a number of command positions, including the 82d Airborne Division, the I Corps in Korea, and the Strategic Army Corps. President John. E Kennedy sent Trap back to Southeast Asia in 1961, and he advised President Kennedy that further military involvement in the region was inadvisable.</p>
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Trapnell became a general officer in 1951 and commanded the 187th Airborne Regimented Combat Team. In 1952, he was called on to assist in overcoming a rebellion of more than 80,000 North Korean and Chinese prisoners of war on Koje-do Island. The Communists had incited the prisoners into rioting, thereby threatening peace negotiations. Later, in 1952, Trap became the chief U.S. military advisor to the French Army in French Indochina as they attempted to quell a rebellion of the Viet Nam Communists supported by the Chinese. Trap and the French commander in chief of the French Armed Forces in Viet Nam, GEN Henri Navarre, were on the last airplane out of Dienbienphu before the site fell to the Viet Nam in May 1954, effectively ending France’s colonial presence in French Indochina. Trap received his third star in 1958; his last assignment was at Ft. McPherson, GA, as commander of the Third U.S. Army. I was employed at Rice’s Bakery in Baltimore when I was notified, during a managerial meeting, that my brother had just been promoted to lieutenant general in the United States Army. Another brother, William Trapnell, had called from Richmond, VA, to relay the wonderful news.</p>
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When I saw my brother Trap at my home in Baltimore shortly after he was released from the Japanese prison camp, he had dropped to about 90 pounds and was able to eat only one-fourth of a waffle when I invited him to breakfast. He would never elaborate on the details of his experiences in Asia, although he once said that cats tasted good and that the Japanese had not treated him too badly.</p>
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I talked to Trap about writing his war memoirs as a legacy and history for the family and the American generations that would follow him. Trap would never document the horrid conditions that he and his men had to endure, although he periodically would allow me to borrow his pictorial history album presented to him from the U.S. Army upon his retirement in 1962.</p>
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Although LTG Trapnell had a scintillating career amassing numerous awards, encomia, and conferring with important leaders from around the world, Trap was never aloof or conceited. He was a modest, friendly and approachable man who never boasted of his tremendous success. So be it with most great men of history.</p>
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LTG Trapnell can be equated to GEN Robert E. Lee of the 19th century and GEN George Washington of the American Revolution; Trap was a warrior who truly epitomized the eternal spirit of West Point and the clarion call of "Duty, Honor, Country."</p>
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Trap now sleeps silendy and peacefully under the hallowed turf at his beloved alma mater, and he is kept in good company by many of America’s notable and fallen war heroes.</p>
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<em>Eleanor Trapnell Hilleary Dorsey Dosh</em></p>