Thrash, William Gay, Gen., 2008 June 17

This is a Living History interview with General W. Gay Thrash, class of 1939, conducted by Marilyn Somers on June 17th, 2008 at his home in Hilton Head, South Carolina. The subject is the interviewee’s life, and experiences at Georgia Tech.

Gen. Thrash was born in Tifton, Georgia, on September 17th, 1916. During his childhood, Gen. Thrash moved around a lot due to tough financial times within his family. During his time at Boy’s High, he had to drop out for a year in order to provide his family with extra income. He finished his schooling at Boy’s High with the help of his older brother and was accepted to Georgia Tech during his senior year. He played many sports including football and knew Coach Alex and George Griffin very well. While he was at Georgia Tech, he lived in Knowles Dormitory and then Techwood Dormitory. After graduating, Gen. Thrash accepted a commission in the Marine Corps that was offered to him due to his time in the Navy ROTC. When he learned that aviators received more money and more attention from girls than the other officers did, he applied for the Marine Corps Aviation program. Pearl Harbor was attacked during his time at flight school in Pensacola, Florida. Due to the massive amount of people that came into the Marine Corps following the attacks, Gen. Thrash moved up the ranks rather quickly. He was ordered to take pictures on the island of Espiritu Santo then went to Korea. During the Korean conflict, he was shot down and captured by the Chinese. He served two years in a Chinese Prisoner of War camp. He was released and was ordered to go to Washington, D.C. where he worked in the Planning Division. He went to Vietnam for a year and returned to work as a Marine Corps liaison to Congress. His last station was in Quantico, Virginia, where he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General. After he retired, he worked in construction then moved to Hilton Head, South Carolina, where he lives with his second wife Wu. He has two children, two grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.