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Tuesday, 26 February 2008 |
 THUNDER. The code name used by U.S. Army Sergeant Matthew Harris Breckinridge. Thunder grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, next to a foundry, which probably explains his fondness for loud noises. He had a passion for heavy metal rock and roll and became a drummer. After joining the Army, Thunder specialized in artillery to "hear them go bang". Thunder later joined the G.I. Joe team where he drove the Slugger "self-propelled artillery" tank. He joined the team a short time before the Joes invaded Springfield. He was one of the few Joes who stayed behind to guard Joe headquarters during that invasion and keep watch over an imprisoned Zartan. Later, while the Joes were without a base, Thunder was one of a group of Joes testing new vehicles and weapons in the Utah desert. His many other missions included the Cobra Island civil war. Thunder's final mission began as a supposedly simple raid on Cobra Terror-Dromes in the desert nation of Trucial Abysmia. The mission went sour when the Joes stumbled upon a large contingent of Cobra soldiers and vehicles. Thunder drove one of the group's armored vehicles. The team was captured and held prisoner by Cobra. A SAW-Viper, misunderstanding orders, killed several of the Joes in cold blood. Thunder was one of the first. He and his fellow Joes were given heroes' funerals in Arlington National Cemetary. Many years later at Arlington, Thunder's name was included on a new memorial dedicated to the fallen members of the G.I. Joe team.
(GI 51, 59, 76, 108, 109; GIv2 26; Figure: 1)
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Classic G.I. Joe Guide 
