William Nathaniel Thomas (March 21, 1892 – April 26, 1971) was a US Navy chief of chaplains, described by one historian as "one of the most distinguished Chaplains ever to serve in the US Navy." Born in Mississippi and entering the navy in 1918, he became a rear admiral and was a chief of chaplains of the United States Navy (1945–1949). He was chaplain aboard the , a World War I troop transport. He then served on the , the and the . He served at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, as an assistant chaplain and then as command chaplain. He wrote the Prayer of the Midshipman and the Dedication in Memorial Hall at the Naval Academy.
Early life and education
"Will" Thomas, the oldest of seven children, was born March 21, 1892, in Cato, the Piney Woods region of Rankin County, Mississippi. He was one-quarter Choctaw. His father worked for the Finkbine lumber company, moved to D'Lo, Mississippi, and was a founder of the D'Lo Methodist Church. Thomas attended the D’Lo Methodist church, which was across the street from where he lived. It was there that he got his religious calling. He got his preacher’s license when he was sixteen.
He worked his way through Millsaps College, a small but recognized institution in Jackson, Mississippi, where he graduated with honors in 1912. His quote in the Millsaps 1912 yearbook reads "To do good rather than be conspicuous." Thomas' ministry began in Danville, Mississippi as he simultaneously served many churches as a rural circuit-rider. He married Martha Ellen Fondren, a member of one of his congregations, on February 18, 1913, when they were both 21 years old. She said "she would never marry a preacher ...but that was before she met Will Thomas." She accompanied him as he covered his circuit by horse and buggy. He attended Seashore Divinity School from 1913-1915 and was ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South by Bishop J. Atkins on November 28, 1915. He attended the Chicago Theological Seminary in 1926. He was later awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Millsaps College in 1935.
Early career: naval service from World War I until the Naval Academy duty 1933
When America entered World War I in 1917, he went to Washington to join the army, which didn’t need chaplains, so he was referred to the navy. He had never seen a naval officer. Following indoctrination at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, he received his naval appointment January 5, 1918, and was assigned to the , a transport ship, which moved soldiers of the American Expeditionary Force to Europe and back. He served aboard the USS Madawaska from February 1918 to September 1919. He said that, when signing up as a navy chaplain, he was asked whether he wanted to be in the regular navy or the reserve and he chose the former. When World War I was over, he planned to return to civilian ministry but was informed that, as a member of the regular navy, he was obliged to remain aboard the transport as it brought soldiers back, so he crossed the Atlantic a total of 28 times. Thomas soon found that he loved the navy, its people and all of his subsequent assignments.
His first shore duty, from September 1919 to February 1922, was at the US Public Service Hospital, Fort Lyon, Colorado, which had formerly served as a tuberculosis hospital. Many of the patients there had been gassed in the war. He was commissioned as a lieutenant on November 3, 1920. He then served aboard from February 1922 to July 1924.
Thomas' first tour at the Naval Academy was as assistant chaplain from 1924 to 1927 under Chaplain Sidney K. Evans, who later became Chief of Chaplains from 1929 to 1935. In addition to regular duties, he held services on the that was docked at the Academy and used as a disciplinary barracks. He was promoted to lieutenant commander November 2, 1924, and then commander November 3, 1924. He then served a two-year tour from October 1927 to October 1929 aboard the for a State Department goodwill tour of Europe and Africa. It had been said that "He had prayed over and for more foreign dignitaries, of every shape, dress, nationality and race than any other Navy Chaplain." His next tour was as the chaplain of the 14th Naval District at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, from November 1929 to July 1932. His final sea duty, from July 1932 to May 1933, was aboard the during the Great Depression.
Senior Chaplain of the United States Naval Academy
The highlight of Thomas’ career was at the Naval Academy as command chaplain from June 1933 to June 1945 when so many became acquainted with him as midshipmen, instructors, administrative staff and students at the Naval Postgraduate School. His twelve-year tenure at the academy was unprecedented.