[1] Thomas was born in Tarrytown, New York, and became a truck driver, jewelry maker, and carpenter.

Later, in response to United States foreign policy, he destroyed his passport while trying to renounce his American citizenship in London.

[2] In 1981, Thomas traveled to Washington, D.C., and spent several months at Mitch Snyder's Community for Creative Non-Violence.

[2] In subsequent years, Thomas and Ellen protested with numerous other activists, including representatives from the Catholic Worker and Plowshares movements.

[6] Thomas and the White House Peace Vigil inspired Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton to introduce the Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act to Congress in 1994.