<div>
<em>Thomas Abbot Hume </em>was born August 2,<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1917, in Hume California, the fifth of six children born to George and Anne Hume. Tom’s early childhood days were spent in Hume, California, which was then a lumber camp and now a small town in the foothills of the Sierras. In 1924, when Tom was six, the family moved to Muskegon, Michigan and shortly thereafter settled in Fruitport, Michigan. There Tom enjoyed a very active boy’s life of boating, swimming, and camping. He also developed an early interest in the shooting and collecting of guns. After completing grammar school and one year at Fruitport High School Tom entered Morgan Park Military Academy in Chicago, Illinois. There, Tom distinguished himself on the academic honor roll, was captain and manager of the rifle team, a member of the student council and, during his Senior year, was “A” Company Commander. In 1936, while attending R.O.T.C. summer camp, Tom won a place on the VI Corps Area Rifle Team and fired with it at Camp Perry. During his last year at Morgan Park, Tom won the Distinguished Cadet Award. Morgan Park was an Honor School and for his outstanding accomplishments Tom was awarded the school’s appointment to West Point.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Tom entered West Point in the summer of 1937. While there, he continued his interest in guns. He fired on the rifle and pistol teams, winning the Minor A during his last two years there. For a hobby, Tom took up gunsmithing. He also developed an interest in photography and music. Tom graduated in 1941 and was commissioned in the Field Artillery.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
After completing the Basic Artillery Officers’ Course at Fort Sill, Tom was assigned to various Field Artillery units in the United States during 1942. In 1943 he received his wings as a liaison pilot. The following year, he was sent to England and ultimately entered combat in Europe. After VE Day, Tom remained in Germany for the occupation. While there he became engaged to Hjordis Faber. Tom and Hjordis were married on February 18, 1947 in Muskegon. After his marriage, Tom returned to Germany to complete his tour of duty there. On November 15, 1948, a son, Thomas Faber Hume was born to them. He attended school at Fort Sill and then was stationed at Fort Lewis where he was Executive Officer of the 37th Field Artillery Battalion of the 2nd Infantry Division.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
In July 1950, the 2nd Division left Fort Lewis for Korea to help stop the on rushing North Korean Communists. Tom was Executive Officer of the 37th Field Artilery Battalion all during the tense days of the Pusan Perimeter, the breakthrough to the Yellow Sea, the drive to the Yalu River, and the early days of the Chinese Communist Intervention. He was frequently seen visiting battery positions with his ever present sporting rifle slung over his shoulder. On one occasion when the 37th was engaged in combat north of Taegu, Tom exposed himself to intense and accurate mortar fire while directing the fire of a 105-mm Howitzer against the suspected mortar position. During those trying days, Tom was always cheerful and businesslike. He never gave a second thought to his own safety and comfort. Uppermost in his mind was the combat effectiveness of the battalion. He led by personal example and for that reason he contributed much to the enviable record of the 37th. On another occasion, in the vicinity of the Naktong River, he and a small group of men formed a battery composed of enemy artillery pieces which just had been captured by forward infantry elements. From the hastily occupied battery position, they fired on the retreating enemy. The battery was in an exposed position and was subject to small arms, mortar, and artillery fire. Tom was an outstanding example of the professional combat soldier. He was forever seeking and using the means which he thought would contribute to our early victory. In doing so he displayed an attribute of fearlessness which some thought led to his untimely death.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
On the 25th of November 1950, the new war started for the 2nd Division. Out of the darkness of that night, the Chinese Communists struck a blow which some combat veterans said surpassed anything they had experienced during World War II. The 37th was well forward and once again, as was so frequently the case in Korea, it came under enemy infantry attack. Tom, in characteristic fashion, undertook the defense of the battalion position by forming up a group of men consisting of cooks, mechanics, and clerks to fight as infantry. His personal courage and leadership no doubt contributed much to the fact that the integrity of the battalion was maintained all that night and during the five trying days which were to follow. The Chinese Communists unceasingly maintained heavy frontal and flank attacks on the division during the next five days. Simultaneously, the enemy had established a road block astride the division’s MSR and its only avenue for retreat. Among the survivors of these hectic days, the road block became known as Kunu-ri Pass. Because the enemy had vast numerical superiority and the division had suffered heavy casualties, it was ordered to break contact and withdraw thru Kunu-ri Pass before it became encircled and faced almost certain annihilation. About noon on the 30th of November the division started through the road block. The 37th was one of the last units in the long column of vehicles which undertook the heartbreaking withdrawal. What was initially thought to be a lightly manned road block turned out to be a position occupied by at least a regiment and some estimated the strength to be that of a division. The 37th cleared the road block late that evening, probably about midnight, with a surprisingly large number of survivors. Unofficially, it was reported that Tom was among them. The same unofficial report stated that Tom was last seen, with his sporting rifle at the ready, entering the small village of Karhyon which was situated at the very end of the road block and where enemy snipers had been reported. It was apparently there that Tom was captured. It was officially reported that he was presumed to have died of malnutrition while a prisoner of war not later than July 31, 1951 and is buried at Pyokdong, North Korea.</div>
<div>
</div>