- SURNAME
Thrailkill
- FORENAME
Martin Clyde
- UNIT
OSS Detachment 101
- RANK
Technical Sergeant
- NUMBER
- AWARD
Bronze Star
- PLACE
Far East
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
from Dallas,Texas
information from his niece Michelle Abbey-Prescott,Spring,Texas
1ST LT
US ARMY WWII
Highly decorated, to including 2 bronze stars. Served in the OSS Detachment 101 (the jungles of Berma)
1st Lt in the OSS....The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was the predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This agency was formed in order to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for the branches of the United States military.
On October 1, 1942, they set up a station at a village called Hklak-Ga, located deep in Naga headhunter country in northern Burma. Master Sergeant Peter J. Kuntz was in charge of the group, who was from the 51st Fighter Control Squadron. The men in the group were Adams, Craig, Shaffer, Potts, Thrailkill, Phillips, Bubrick, Griffith and Kuntz. This station was able to give the American airfield a 55-minute advance warning.
On one occasion, the early warning enabled our fighters and ground forces to shoot down 38 of the 46 attacking Japanese airplanes. When the Japanese learned where the early warning originated, they sent Japanese ground forces to attack and kill everyone in the village. Although most of the villagers escaped into the jungle, the Japanese killed those who remained and burned their village. The radio team had been given warning of the attack by the Kachin tribesmen. After hiding their radio and equipment, they made a fast retreat to safety in Assam. Two of the KC8 radio team members, Daniel A. Bubrick and Martin Thrailkill, later transferred to the Kachin V-Force. Bubrick was killed in an ambush in October 1943, near Sharaw-Ga in the Hukawng Valley
PERSONAL NOTES:
Known as Clyde by his family and friends. He was an amazing cook and loved to fish. Uncle Clyde was devoted to his family. His wife, my Aunt Ollie use to joke she did not know where the kitchen was because Uncle Clyde did all the cooking.
Born-15 Sep 1920
Died-14 Nov 1989
2 children- Frances (living) and Jane who passed away in 2004.
Wife- Olie Dunkin-Thrailkill passed away in 2008.
Clyde and Ollie are buried next to each other in Hillcrest Memorial Gardens Cem, in Ornage Texas
Uncle Clyde was a hell of a guy! He would tell this crazy "coon ass" stories as my aunt called them.The two of them would both get into it and each would tell different parts of the story but use their "coon ass" accents. They would keep us all in stitches. Uncle Clyde and Aunt Ollie loved each other very much, through all their years together, they still had a deep love and affection for each other. They are both missed very much.
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