Scope and Contents

Less than one linear foot of photographs, a short biographical sketch of Phillip F. Thomas, and a biography about Thomas's father. Rear Admiral Frank Thomas. documents the lives of both men, one in the United States Navy and the other with the United States Information Agency (USIA). The photographs are reprints of originals and both documents date from the post-war period. All materials are in good condition.

Biographical / Historical

Phillip F. Thomas was born in Longbranch, New Jersey in 1923. Just like his father before him, Phillip joined the Naval Academy in the early 1940s until he quit in March 1947. He then worked as a sports reporter for the Washington Daily News in Washington, D.C. and earned a Bachelor of the Arts degree in History at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1948. From then on, Thomas worked at multiple other newspapers as a general assignment reporter until he joined the United States Information Agency (USIA) in 1962, spending time in Burma and in Central Vietnam as a psychological warfare advisor to the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) officials in the field and to the First Marine Division, U.S. Marine Corps. In May 1967, Thomas transferred from Vietnam to various other locales, including Malaysia, Manila, and Washington D.C., before beginning a four-year assignment in Bangkok, Thailand, 1972-1976. More biographical information on Thomas can be found in his document collection.