John Houston: Sergeant of Marines

Whether Colonel Thomason wrote in the first person or third person, he was always a masterful story teller. These stories revolve around John Houston, who was stationed at the Peking Legation, and is one of the most likable fighting men to have appeared in many years. As they said at the legation post, Sergeant Houston was a man to whom things happened, and meeting re-haired Jane Galt was definitely one of the most important of such encounters. Sergeant Houston's adventures in China are followed by duty in Central America just prior to America's entry into World War Two. These stories add insight to the little known pre-war events that took place in this area of the world. Colonel Thomason was there and wrote and drew of these events. The return to China as a medically retired Marine was a rumor that circulated around the Marine Corps, but was not a fact. These stories have appeared in books that are now out of print, but all of them have the crisp sharpness of command. Anyone who likes adventure, good humor and camaraderie of men at arms in far-away places will find it in abundance in these pages. Born in Texas, a nephew of Longstreet's Chief of Staff, it was only natural that John Thomason should be a soldier, and that he should have written with great knowledge and sympathy of the old days in Texas in "Gone to Texas." He was educated and studied art for two years at the Art Students League in New York City. Col. John W. Thomason, Jr., found drawing easier than writing and regarded himself as a professional soldier. First commissioned in the United States Marine Corps in 1917. He served in France with great distinction and was awarded the Navy Cross and the Silver Star for heroism in combat action. In spite of severe fighting, however, Col. Thomason found time to use his clever pen and returned to this country with a portfolio of spirited sketches. After the war he wrote many military monographs for the General Staff and wrote a division history for the War Department. Back in the states in 1925, he went with Laurence Stallings, a fellow leatherneck, to the offices of Scribner's Magazine, portfolio in hand. The result was not only acceptance of the drawings but a commission to write stories to accompany them. And so "Fix Bayonets" came into being. His post-war tours of duty took him to China, Cuba, Central America and to sea with the Special Service Squadron on the USS Rochester, the flagship of General "Blackjack" Pershing. These experiences provided the material for a flood of stories and illustrations about Marines. These stories appeared in magazines like The Saturday Evening Post, Scribner's, The New Yorker and National Geographic. In his stories and drawings, Thomason immortalized the Marines as did Kipling with the British Army in India or as Remington (in another medium) did with the Indian-fighting army of the American Southwest. Illness prevented Colonel Thomason from leading troops in World War Two, and he died on 12 March 1944 at the Naval Hospital in San Diego. Later that year, the Navy Department named a destroyer, the USS THOMASON, in his honor.