| Sources |
- [S75] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume II, 1955-1973, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 30 Jun 1959.
Rev. Walter Franklin Flanagan obituary
- [S52] Miller Funeral Home, (http://www.millerfuneralhome.org), 26 Jan 2011.
Patricia L. Cummings Hunt obituary
- [S4] Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee), 22 Feb 2016.
Blount WWII veteran finally receives high school diploma
Credit: Hilda Presley
Thomas Cummings, a World War II veteran and Blount County native who will receive a honorary high school diploma. Cummings was a Porter High School student when he was drafted to serve in World War II. Today, Thomas is 92 years old and lives in Zephyrhills, Fla. (HILDA PRESLEY/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS SENTINEL)
By Mike Blackerby
Credit: Hilda Presley
Thomas Cummings and his wife, Elsie, pictured recently at their home in Zephyrhills, Fla. Thomas Cummings, a World War II veteran and Blount County native, will receive a honorary high school diploma. Cummings was a Porter High School student when he was drafted to serve in World War II. (HILDA PRESLEY/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS SENTINEL)
Credit: Hilda Presley
Thomas Cummings and his wife, Elsie, pictured recently at their home in Zephyrhills, Fla. Thomas Cummings, a World War II veteran and Blount County native, will receive a honorary high school diploma. Cummings was a Porter High School student when he was drafted to serve in World War II. (HILDA PRESLEY/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS SENTINEL)
Seventy-three years ago, Blount County farm boy Thomas Cummings traded his school books for a machine gun— and a front-row seat to history in the Pacific Theater.
After completing his freshman year at now-shuttered Porter High School, Cummings' education was interrupted when he was drafted by the Army in 1943 to serve in World War II.
"I had to go defend my country," said the 91-year-old Cummings, who has lived in Zephyrhills, Fla., since 1952. "I was glad to go. I would go again if I had to."
While his former classmates were crossing the stage to "Pomp and Circumstance" in 1945, Cummings was serving as a heavy machine gunner with the Army's 579th Anti-Aircraft Battalion in faraway outposts like New Guinea, Luzon and the Philippines.
He was witness to some of the seminal events of World War II.
Cummings said he was "behind the lines and preparing to go into battle in the Philippines" when the second atomic bomb was dropped by the U.S. on Nagasaki, Japan, on Aug. 9, 1945.
He was on the troop ship John D. Ford, within sight of the battleship USS Missouri where the Japanese surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945.
"We were about 100 yards from the Missouri when they signed the treaty in Tokyo Bay," Cummings said.
During the occupation of Japan, Cummings helped guard notorious propagandist Tokyo Rose and former prime minister Hideki Tojo, who orchestrated Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.
After the war, Cummings painted houses with his brother in Blount County. He later moved to Florida, where he worked in a paint factory.
Cummings, who will celebrate his 70th wedding anniversary with his wife, Elsie, in August, said he has had few regrets in life.
Except for one — he never received his high school diploma.
That was finally remedied Friday when the Blount County Veterans Affairs Office awarded Cummings his diploma.
His niece, Hilda, and her husband, Charles Presley, accepted the honorary diploma on Cummings' behalf.
"I put it in the mail today," said Hilda Presley on Friday. "He was anxious to get it and told me that he might be the 'top dog' in Zephryhills now."
Presley said her uncle was simply doing "what he was asked" when he was drafted.
"He recognized the importance of it," she said. "He had a lot of grit and did what he was supposed to do."
Presley said her uncle told her his life will come full circle when he finally gets his diploma in the mail.
"He told me it completes his records," Presley said.
Nathan Weinbaum, director of veterans services in Blount County, said the honorary diploma program is the least the country can do for its aging veterans.
He estimates only 697,000 World War II veterans are living, including 13,000 in Tennessee.
"The program is through the state of Tennessee for World War II, Korea and Vietnam veterans whose education was interrupted for war-time service," said Weinbaum. "The No. 1 thing was the student had to be on course to graduate. We send the request to the school. They research it and send the request to the state. Then, the state sends the diploma back to the school, which signs it."
Weinbaum said his office has presented six local veterans with their diplomas in the past two years.
"It's an honor to do this," Weinbaum said. "This veteran is 91 years old. It makes him feel appreciated, and that's why we do it."
Cummings said he's grateful for the gesture.
"I've been about 71 years getting my diploma, and it's really something to finally get it," he said. "I never thought I'd get a diploma, being 91 years old."
About Mike Blackerby
Mike Blackerby covers sports and news for the News Sentinel
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
Name Will Cummings
Event Type Marriage
Event Date 03 Jul 1910
Event Place Blount, Tennessee, United States
Spouse's Name Dicie Hatcher
"Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-15207-14038-40?cc=1619127 : accessed 23 February 2016), Blount > Marriage certificates, 1790-1950, Cogdell, James-Davis, O. L. > image 1807 of 2911; citing Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville and county clerk offices from various counties.
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Abt 1925 - (~ 99 years)
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