William Henry Thompson (August 16, 1927 – August 6, 1950) was a United States Army soldier and a posthumous recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in the Korean War.
Born to a single mother in an impoverished neighborhood in New York City, Thompson entered the Army in 1945 and served tours in Alaska and Japan. At the outbreak of the Korean War, Thompson was a machine gunner of the U.S. 24th Infantry Regiment, a de facto segregated unit.
During the Battle of Masan in August 1950, Thompson was part of a unit conducting an offensive along the Pusan Perimeter. When North Korean troops attacked his company and caused many men to panic and scatter, Thompson stood his ground, refusing orders to evacuate despite being wounded, and covered the retreat of his platoon until he was killed by a grenade. For his actions, Thompson was awarded the Medal of Honor, one of only two African Americans to be so honored in the war.
Biography
William Thompson was born on August 16, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York to an unmarried mother. Little is known of Thompson's early life, but he grew up in an impoverished tenement house neighborhood. He dropped out of school at a young age, and spent his teen years wandering the streets. A local minister noticed Thompson sleeping in a park one evening and took him to a homeless shelter, the New York Home for Homeless Boys. Thompson remained a resident there until he turned 18 in 1945.
Some sources alternatively state Thompson decided to join the United States Army as an opportunity to escape poverty, or that he was drafted.
Military career
Thompson enlisted in the army in October 1945 and, after basic combat training, was assigned to a post in Adak, Alaska. After 18 months, he was honorably discharged from the military, but found adjustment to civilian life difficult and opted to return to the military. In January 1948, Thompson reenlisted and was assigned to the 6th Infantry Division, which was on occupation duty in South Korea. When the 6th Infantry Division returned to the United States, he was reassigned to the 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division which was assigned to the post-World War II occupation of Japan. His Military Occupational Specialty was 4812, that of a heavy weapons infantryman who operated automatic weapons.
The 24th Infantry was a de facto segregated unit, but Thompson nonetheless enjoyed his time in the military viewing it as one of few places where an African American could enjoy some degree of comfort. Described as "thin, hollow-eyed and quiet," he was an effective soldier, consistently maintaining his uniform and equipment and keeping his firearms extremely clean. Thompson was also a skilled marksman and rarely had behavioral problems. He was content in the lower ranks of the military, preferring to follow orders instead of giving them.
At the outbreak of the Korean War, Thompson was a private first class, part of M Company of 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry, the heavy weapons support company for the battalion.
The 24th Infantry first came into heavy contact with North Korean army troops on July 22 during the Battle of Sangju. When North Korean rifle fire came in on the dispersed regiment, its troops almost immediately began retreating from the front, ignoring officers' commands to stay in position. Historians blame the retreat as much on officers' ineptitude as on the panicking of individual soldiers. The tendency to panic continued in nearly all the 24th Infantry operations west of Sangju. Men left their positions and straggled to the rear, abandoning weapons. On many occasions, units lost most of their equipment while on the move, even when not under fire, causing logistical shortages. In other cases, the majority of a unit deserted its position at the first sign of North Korean fire. The situation became so dire that the regiment's senior officers set up a checkpoint west of the town and stopped every vehicle coming from the west, removing stragglers attempting to retreat. Many jeeps were filled with six or seven men claiming they were retreating after their position was overrun. The 24th quickly gained a poor reputation as a "bug out" unit, and was blasted for its poor performance during combat. Historians contend its accomplishments, particularly at the Battle of Yechon, were ignored, while shortcomings were seized upon to depict the 24th as a sub-par unit, and African-Americans as inferior soldiers to whites.