Thayer was born in Portland, Oregon, on March 10, 1922. He was a descendant of Sylvanus Thayer, who is known as the "Father of West Point". When he was four, his parents divorced and Thayer moved to his grandparents' farm in Carlton, Oregon. He attended Carlton High School, where he was editor of the school newspaper. During his junior year, he participated in the Oregon High School Press Conference and was elected the conference president. He graduated from high school in 1940, earning a journalism scholarship to the University of Oregon for his newspaper work.[1][3]
After high school, Thayer enrolled in the University of Oregon's journalism school, where he became the advertising manager for the Oregon Daily Emerald, the university's student newspaper. However, the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor changed the direction of his life.[1][3]
As a mine platoon commander, Thayer led his unit across France and into Germany. Along the way, he taught soldiers how to clear minefields along the Maginot Line. Thayer was then reassigned as a reconnaissance platoon leader. That unit included 16 men, two half-tracks, and a jeep. In 1945, his platoon engaged German SS troops who were occupying a small Austrian town. In the battle, his platoon killed 31 German soldiers. When reinforcements from his battalion arrived, 800 German soldiers surrendered. For this action, Thayer was awarded a Silver Star.[1][3][4][5]
On May 4, 1945, Thayer's platoon was hunting for German ammunition dumps near Wels, Austria. As they followed a remote forest road, the platoon began to find dead, dying, and emaciated people. At the end of the road, Thayer and his men discovered and liberated the Gunskirchen Lagerconcentration camp, part of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp complex, saving approximately 15,000 HungarianJews as well as several hundred political prisoners from starvation.[1][3][4][6][7]
During the course of the war, Thayer also earned a Bronze Star for heroism.[3][4][8] After the war, he continued his service in the Army Reserve, serving in a unit based in Vancouver, Washington. He retired from the Army Reserve as a colonel in 1982.[3][6]
Businessman and civic leader
Thayer returned to the University of Oregon after the war, graduating in 1947 with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics. In 1954, Thayer married Patricia Cunningham, a teacher from Seattle. They settled on a 5-acre (2.0 ha) farm in Beaverton, where they raised five children. A year later, he founded the J. Thayer Company, an office supply business. The firm was also located in Beaverton. Eventually, the company became the largest independent office-supply company in the western United States.[1][3][6]
In 1988, Thayer was serving on the Tuality Community Hospital board of directors. After a nurses' strike and a management shakeup, Thayer agreed to step in and serve as the hospital's interim president. He held the position for five months, until the staff problems were resolved. During that short period, Thayer not only restored harmony to the staff, he also increased the hospital's annual earnings by $4.1 million. In 1991, the flag court at the hospital was named in Thayer's honor.[9]
Public service
In 1989, Thayer was appointed Oregon's civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army. While serving in this position in 1991, he was inducted into the Infantry Hall of Fame in Fort Benning. A year later, he represented the Secretary of Defense at a World War II commemoration ceremony held by the Austrian government. At the ceremony, Thayer was personally recognized for his role in liberating the Gunskirchen Lager concentration camp. When he left the position in 1994, Thayer was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.[3][4][9]
In 2000, Thayer was re-activated into military service and promoted to brigadier general. He was then assigned as commander of the Oregon State Defense Force. The Oregon State Defense Force, later renamed the Oregon Civil Defense Force, is one of the three components of the Oregon Military Department, serving as a reserve force for the state militia. The other two components are the Oregon Army National Guard and the Oregon Air National Guard.[3][7]
Today, the official name of the Oregon Military Museum at Camp Withycombe is the Brigadier General James B. Thayer Oregon Military Museum.[1][3][4][7] Thayer's son, Tommy Thayer, was the lead guitarist for the rock bandKiss. In 2014 and again in 2017, Kiss gave special performances in the Portland area to raise money for a new 32,000-square-foot (3,000 m2) facility to house the Oregon Military Museum. Both concerts raised over a million dollars for the cause. The new Thayer museum is expected to open in late 2017.[1][4][11]
Thayer died on September 16, 2018, in Lake Oswego, Oregon.[12][13] His death was announced on the official Kiss website.[14] He was 96.
Awards and decorations
Thayer's United States military and civilian decorations include:[8]
^ abcGardner, Fran (June 27, 1991). "Harmony Gets Job Done", The Oregonian, Portland, Oregon.(subscription required)
^"Dear Cousins"Archived March 12, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, The Thayer Quarterly (Volume 4 Issue 4), Thayer Family Association, Braintree Massachusetts, Fall 1996, p. 12.
United States
United States Army
Brigadier general
