D-Day to Inchon: ‘Greatest Ranger That Ever Was’ Tommy Gwynn Dies at 106

An Army Ranger who fought through D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge and the Battle of Inchon, escaped enemy captivity twice and was wounded two dozen times across two wars has died at 106.

Thomas Edward “Tommy” Gwynn, known throughout his adopted hometown of Tullahoma, Tennessee, as “the greatest Ranger that ever was,” died Monday, April 6, at the Life Care Center there, according to an obituary issued by Kilgore Funeral Home. He was two months from his 107th birthday and was the town’s oldest resident.

By the time he left the military, Gwynn had earned a battlefield commission, a dozen Purple Hearts and later earned a French military award for valor.

From Moscow, Tennessee, to the Army Rangers

Gwynn was born June 2, 1919, in Moscow, a farming town in Fayette County east of Memphis. He enlisted in 1941 and, two years later, earned a spot with the U.S. Army Rangers, the light infantry force activated in 1942 under Maj. William O. Darby.

Gwynn shipped to England with his unit in 1943 and waded ashore at Normandy on June 6, 1944. He marked the date as a second birthday every year afterward, telling the Moore County News he celebrated it because he survived.

From the beachhead, Gwynn pushed east through the Allied breakout, fought through the snowy Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge and reached the Elbe River on May 8, 1945, the day Germany surrendered. He came home that November. 

In 1950, he was called back to service and shipped to Korea, where he took part in the Sept. 15 amphibious landing at Inchon, Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s flanking strike against North Korean forces. 

On two separate occasions during the Korean campaign, enemy troops took him prisoner. Both times, he broke out and returned to American lines.

Troops called him “Little Horse” for his speed and stamina under fire. He also earned a battlefield promotion to first lieutenant.

By the war’s end, Gwynn had been wounded 24 times. 

“When bullets are flying, there is no pain,” he later said.

 He credited his faith and physical conditioning for carrying him through the conflict.

His decorations included two Silver Stars, three Bronze Stars, 12 Purple Hearts, the Presidential Unit Citation with two bronze clusters, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Prisoner of War Medal. The number of Purple Hearts alone places Gwynn among the most-decorated American combat veterans of his generation and in history.

France awarded him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, its highest order of merit, conferred in a Nov. 7, 2012, letter from then-President Francois Hollande for Gwynn’s role in the 1944 liberation of France. 

A 2013 fire at his Tullahoma home destroyed many of the original medals. Replacements were issued in the years that followed.

A Quiet Life and a Final Salute

After returning from Korea, Gwynn owned and operated Gwynn Appliance Repair in Tullahoma, served as a jail minister and remained a longtime member of First Baptist Church in town. He became a familiar figure around Tullahoma well into old age, handing out donuts, candy and small bags of food to neighbors and strangers alike.

Beginning in 2019, the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System and the Tullahoma community began throwing him an annual birthday party. Last June, the city’s mayor proclaimed June 2, 2025, as “Tommy Gwynn Day.”

When asked about the secret to his longevity at his 106th birthday celebration, Gwynn said, “Always smile and have a good heart.”

He was preceded in death by his wife, Sarah Gwynn; his son, Thomas Gwynn Jr.; his daughter, Julia Gwynn; his parents, Garland Ray and Lula Mae Tacker Gwynn; his brother, John Albert Gwynn; and three sisters, Edna Myers Lucas, Frances Davis and Mary Beard Boldreghini. He is survived by two nephews, Claude Jones and Vernon Jones.

Visitation is set for Wednesday, April 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Kilgore Funeral Home, 215 Mitchell Blvd. in Tullahoma. A service will follow at 1 p.m., officiated by Dr. J. Herbert Hester. Burial with full military honors will take place at Bethany Cemetery in Normandy, Tennessee.

The town where the greatest Ranger that ever was will be laid to rest shares its name with the stretch of French coast he stormed ashore at over 80 years ago.