BRISTOW -- A memorial service for McAlester psychologist and World War II veteran Harold R. Thain will be held at 10 a.m. March 31 at the Jones Memorial Airfield in Bristow.

Thain, 85, died Feb. 12 at his McAlester home. At the time of his death, Thain had been planning a reunion of the 456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, out of which he commanded "C Battery." Instead of canceling the reunion, his family decided to hold it as planned, ending with his memorial service.

Thain, a University of Oklahoma graduate, joined the military in 1942.

A paratrooper, he jumped in Casablanca, Sicily, Ireland and Normandy on D-Day. He was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action in Holland. After World War II, Thain was an officer of military government in Germany from 1948 to 1952.

He later obtained his doctorate and became the chief clinical psychologist at the Student Health Center of the University of Texas at Austin.

Joining Thain's family at the memorial will be some of his war buddies, a Tinker Air Force Base color guard, the Tulsa Military Vehicle Group and the Liberty Jump Team based at the Jones Memorial Airfield.