Arthur Powell Thomas was born in 1916 in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. He was the younger of two children. His father, Sidney, was killed n action in World War I.

Arthur graduated from Phoenixville High School in 1933. He was a member of the Central Lutheran Church and the Independent Order of Oddfellow Lodge, a social organization that strived to improve and elevate the character of man.

He obtained employment at the B.F Goodrich Company. 

Arthur entered service in the Army in December, 1942. He trained for two years with antiaircraft artillery, including a three-month course at a Chicago electrical school.

In August 1944, Arthur married a nurse, Lois Bailey of Burlington, Iowa. The next month, he received infantry training at Camp Gordon, Georgia.

Arthur was sent overseas to England in January, 1945, then to France, serving with Patton’s Third Army, which was pushing across France into Germany.