Thomas J. Ryan

Thomas Ryan was born in New Orleans on August 5, 1901, and graduated from the Naval Academy in 1921. On September 1, 1923, during the Great Kanto earthquake, he rescued a woman from the burning Grand Hotel in Yokohama, and President Coolidge presented his medal on March 15, 1924. In 1943 he commanded destroyers at Kolombangara and won two Navy Crosses. After the war, as trial judge advocate, he prosecuted the late 1945 court-martial of Captain Charles B. McVay III. Ryan retired a rear admiral and died in 1970.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu — 1.1 mi
  A 6,000-square-foot museum of southwest Louisiana Carnival with about 275 costume mannequins and 14 animated figures, opened in April 2026.
• Imperial Calcasieu Museum — 1.4 mi
  Lake Charles's history museum, founded by the Junior League in 1963, with parish artifacts, Claire Chennault's uniform and the Sallier Oak.
• Sam Houston Jones State Park — 5.0 mi
  A 1,087-acre park on the West Fork of the Calcasieu with longleaf pine, cypress-tupelo swamp, five trails, cabins and kayak rentals.
• Creole Nature Trail Adventure Point — 9.4 mi
  A free visitor center at the western gateway of Louisiana's only All-American Road, with exhibits on alligators, migrating songbirds and the estuary.

More markers nearby

• Theodore S. Wilkinson Jr. — steps away
• Adolphus W. Greely — steps away
• Albert Weisbogel — steps away
• Martin Freeman — steps away