Thomas Louis Bonnitt

Thomas Louis Bonnitt
Personal details
Born	1919
Died	2015
Nativity	Germany
Religion	Protestant
Awards	Purple Heart
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32009007
Rank	Master Sergeant
Rank at Ritchie	Private First Class
Camp Ritchie	Class 17 (11 March – 8 May 1944)
Section	5A
Enlisted	New York City, New York
Teams	IPW 83, IPW 90, IPW 150

Awards and honors

Purple Heart

Teammates

Team — IPW 83

Team — IPW 90

Team — IPW 150

These are other soldiers listed on the same team roster. People moved between teams; overlapping service dates are not always documented.

Research notes on this page are compiled from the source file and later edits. They may be unverified, incomplete, or incorrect, and should not be treated as established fact. Please correct the article or add sources on the talk page. For class-roster terms, see About the data.

Sources & confidence: Treat Research notes as leads, not settled fact. Prefer NARA, the class roster, newspapers, Find a Grave, or published histories for contested claims. Mark unsourced claims with {{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.

Thomas Louis Bonnitt (1919–2015) was a German-born U.S. Army master sergeant in Class 17 and IPW Team 90, wounded under fire while the team moved toward Paris.

Biography

Thomas Louis Bonnitt was born in 1919 in Germany and later served in the U.S. Army. Drafted before Pearl Harbor, he trained at Fort Dix and Fort Benning with the 4th (Motorized) Infantry Division, then served with military police and instructor-training assignments before language screening sent him to Camp Ritchie. He graduated near the top of Class 17, was made a master sergeant, and briefly instructed pending overseas assignment.

After landing in Scotland and time at Broadway and a SHAEF refresher in London, Bonnitt crossed to Utah Beach about two months after D-Day with IPW Team 90. On 20 August 1944, MIS ETO Special Orders No. 224 listed him with the team when PW interrogation teams were attached to G-2, Forward Echelon Communications Zone. Soon afterward, while racing toward Paris on the Red Ball route, the jeep he shared with Alfred Burns and William Scheuer was hit under fire; Bonnitt was wounded in the forehead and evacuated. He later rejoined T-Force / 12th Army Group work through the Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge) and into Germany, and he recorded a Purple Heart among his wartime decorations.

He died in 2015.

Gallery

• 
  M/Sgt Thomas Louis Bonnitt in the field.
• 
  Tampa Bay Times, 7 May 1998.

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	96
Nara ASN	32009007
Nara Name	BONNITT THOMAS L
Nara State	23
Nara County	61
Nara POE	2364
Nara DOE	250241
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Alpha	BI
Nara Branch Code	0
Branch	Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Nara Term or Enlistment	0
Term of enlistment	Unknown
Defer. Date	0
Nara Source	0
Nara Nativity	N1
Nara Year of Birth	19
Nara Race	J
Nara Race Description	White not yet a citizen
Nara Education	4
Nara Civilian Occupation	133
Nara Marital Status	6
Nara Height (inches)	66
Nara Weight (lbs)	132
Class_ASN	32009007
Class_Name	BONNITT, Thomas L.
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Timeline

• 1919 — Born in Germany.
• Drafted before Pearl Harbor; 4th Infantry Division (motorized); later MP / instructor training; ASTP language screen → Camp Ritchie.
• Class 17 — Graduates; made Master Sergeant; instructor pending assignment.
• ETO — Scotland / Broadway; SHAEF refresher (London); Utah Beach ~D+60.
• 20 August 1944 — Listed on MIS ETO Special Orders No. 224 with IPW Team 90.
• Wounded (forehead) when IPW 90 jeep hit under fire toward Paris; Purple Heart.
• Rejoins unit; T-Force / 12th Army Group; Ardennes (Bulge) and advance into Germany.
• 2015 — Died.

Sources

• Alfred Burns memoir excerpts (jeep wounding; via Stephen Goodell / RB Archive IPW 90 notes)
• Tampa Bay Times, 7 May 1998
• Thomas Louis Bonnitt, family memoir “Your Grandfather’s War Service” (RB Archive)
• MIS ETO Special Orders No. 224 (extract), 20 August 1944 (IPW Teams 88–97; Field Interrogation Detachment → G-2 Fwd Ech Com Z)
• Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
• Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
• NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
• 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)