Carl Thomas
Staff Sergeant, United States Army
December 31, 1974 – September 13, 2004
Age – 29
Detroit, MI
Operation Iraqi Freedom
1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, TX
Died when an improvised explosive device detonated near his observation post in Baghdad, Iraq
SSG Thomas was born in Detroit and attended elementary and middle schools in Detroit, Southfield and Oak Park. He completed the ninth and 10th grades at Robichaud Senior/Junior High School in Dearborn Heights before moving to Phoenix to live with his father. He graduated from Marysville High School in Phoenix in 1993. After high school, Thomas worked various jobs before enlisting in the Army. He married on his 23rd birthday.
Crit, short for Critter, was the name Sgt. Carl Thomas’ Aunt Diann gave him when he was a baby because he looked so tiny. Everyone knew him as Crit. He grew up skinny and scrawny and shy, a Boy Scout and a computer geek.
The name stuck, even after he joined the Army in 1996 and filled out, became more assertive. He became an infantry motorman and was deployed in Panama, South Korea, and Kosovo. The family lived in Germany and in Texas. He rarely was home for more than six months at a time. His three children were accustomed to his absence.
The day before his death, mother Alfeeria Johnson of Inkster sat at her computer for a weekly e-mail chat with her son. They talked about how much they looked forward to seeing each other in a few weeks and made plans to celebrate with a barbecue.
“He sounded OK, and he told me to wait on making my flight arrangements,” Johnson told the Detroit Free Press. “He was supposed to be home October.” “He was an easygoing person. It was hard for him to get mad,” Johnson said, glancing at a picture of her son. “He loved basketball, wrestling and video games. He really loved his kids. He was a normal kid.
Before he left for Iraq, Thomas made his wife Lanae watch the movie “We Were Soldiers,” about the soldiers who fought on both sides of an early battle of the Vietnam War. He wanted to prepare her for the worst; if he died, he told her, he wanted to be buried next to his grandfather in Michigan, where he was born. Are you scared to go? Lanae asked. No, he said. This is what I trained for.
He was not born to the Army like some soldiers. He was able and proud, but it was more of a means to an end. He liked that it allowed him to spoil his children, Dariaun, 11, Nataisha, 10, and Rayqwaun, 6, to buy them the latest toys, even ones they were too young to play with. So every three years, he considered the options and re-enlisted.
When he was in Iraq, he called Lanae on a mobile phone in the middle of every night and sent instant messages every morning.
“I’m fine. You guys don’t watch the news,” he often wrote.
She was waiting by her computer the morning the two officers came by and knocked on her door. She did not cry. She did not let them see her break down. “Suck up and drive on,” she heard Crit say in her head.
He was remembered by fellow soldiers with the following
Sgt. Carl Thomas was a great friend and soldier. We were on the same humvee all day on 12 September, 2004, the day before he was killed in action. We had a great time that day. I try to remember that day. My son Thomas Hagy Ayars is named for Sgt. Thomas and SSgt Hagy. I miss both of you.
Chuck Ayars of Reaper Platoon
Sgt. Carl Thomas and I were roommates while we were in Iraq. I was also his replacement in Fort Hood back in the summer of 2000 while he was going to Germany. I can recall always talking about his family, how much he loved them and count not wait to get back home to see them. I’m very proud to have served with Sgt Carl Thomas and will always keep his spirit with me. God Bless….
Joseph Hidalgo