(Courtesy of "Macso")

John J. Thornquist, 84, of Costa Mesa [CA], a dentist, died March 20, 2001, of heart disease. Services: 11:30 a.m.-noon and 1 p.m. today, Fairhaven Memorial Park & Mortuary, Santa Ana.

Daughters, Sherri Finch, Lori Fiorini, Kristi Hustedt; sister, Patricia Simpson; 12 grandchildren.

(Orange County Register, The (Santa Ana, CA) - Saturday, March 31, 2001, Edition: 1, Page: Obit)

John J. Thornquist was a member of the Class of 1943, School of Dentistry, University of California.

Following graduation he was given a commission in the Army and volunteered for parachutist duty. He joined with the 508th in the fall of 1943 at Camp Mackall, NC.

Captain Thornquist was captured on D-Day and after briefly being held in Rennes, France was transferred by train to Oflag 64k, a  German prisoner-of-war camp for officers located at Szubin a few miles south of Bydgoszcz, in Pomorze, Poland.

On 20 May 1945 Captain Thornquist appeared on a roster of men from California who had been librated from various POW camps.   The list comprised  Movement Orders RO Group, E 1027-14, assigned for movement as liberated prisoners of war.
   His address for recuperation is shown as 4283 Leimert Blvd, Los Angeles, 3, California. (Note the use of zone code "3", an early version of what became the zip code years later)