Thomas "Tommy" Burton West was born 13 Mar 1923 in Beverly, Sebastian Co., Ar. to John Cline & Bertie Rowland Braley West. Tommy registered for the draft on 30 Jun 1942 in Fort Smith, Sebastian Co., Ar. He says he was born in Lavaca, Sebastian Co., Ar and currently lived in Fort Smith, Sebastian Co., Ar. Tommy served as a Technician Forth Grade, 853rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation, U.S. Army Air Force. In Nov 1943 Tec 4 West was a passenger on the HMT Rohna. The Rohna and four other troop ships left Oran in French Algeria with cargo and troops. Off Bejaia, Algeria the convoy was attacked by an estimated 60 German Luftwaffe Heinkel 177's. One of the 177's, piloted by Hans Dochtermann, released a glide bomb that hit Rohna on her port side and she eventually sank. 1,138 men were killed, including 1,015 U.S. personnel. The attack is the largest loss of US troops at sea due to enemy action in a single incident. 35 U.S. troops of the 2,000 originally embarked later died of wounds. Tommy was declared "Missing In Action" in this sinking during the war. His memorial at Sea Tablets of the Missing is at North Africa American Cemetery Carthage, Tunisia Tec 4 Thomas West was awarded the Purple Heart.