Thomas L. Hall

Leading attacks on machine guns near Montbrehain

Thomas Lee Hall earned the Medal of Honor near Montbrehain, France, on October 8, 1918. A sergeant in Company G, 118th Infantry Regiment, 30th Division, he led his platoon past two machine-gun positions before another gun halted its advance.

Hall ordered his men into the cover of a sunken road and attacked the position alone. Using his bayonet, he overcame five members of the gun crew, allowing the line to advance. He was mortally wounded while attacking another machine-gun position later that day.

Born in Fort Mill, South Carolina, in 1893, Hall received the Medal of Honor posthumously. He is buried at Unity Cemetery in Fort Mill.

Medal of Honor citation

Having overcome two machine-gun nests under his skillful leadership, Sgt. Hall's platoon was stopped 800 yards from its final objective by machine-gun fire of particular intensity. Ordering his men to take cover in a sunken road, he advanced alone on the enemy machine-gun post and killed five members of the crew with his bayonet and thereby made possible the further advance of the line. While attacking another machine-gun nest later in the day this gallant soldier was mortally wounded.