William Henry Thompson

He remained at that gun so that his platoon could fall back.

William Henry Thompson grew up in New York City and enlisted in the United States Army in October 1945. His first overseas duty took him to Adak in the Aleutian Islands. After eighteen months there he reenlisted and served with the 6th Infantry Division on occupation duty in South Korea. When that division returned to the United States, he transferred to the 24th Infantry Regiment in Japan.

The 24th was an all-Black regiment in an army that was still completing desegregation. Sent to Korea after the North Korean invasion in June 1950, its soldiers faced shortages of training and preparation as well as enemy pressure. Thompson served in Company M, a heavy-weapons company, and first entered combat during the fighting around Sangju in July.

Near Haman on 6 August, his platoon was reorganizing at night when a much larger enemy force attacked with automatic weapons and grenades. Thompson set up his machine gun directly in the path of the advance. His fire temporarily pinned down the attackers and gave the other soldiers an opportunity to reach a better position.

Enemy fire repeatedly struck him, including small-arms rounds and grenade fragments. His comrades tried to persuade him to withdraw, but he continued operating the gun. The Medal of Honor citation records that he "resisted all efforts of his comrades to induce him to withdraw" (https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/william-h-thompson). He remained at his position until an enemy grenade killed him. His resistance allowed the remainder of the platoon to escape the immediate attack.

The men withdrawing could still hear his gun behind them before explosions silenced it. His body was recovered later, and he was buried at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York. He was only twenty-two years old.

On 21 June 1951 General Omar Bradley presented the Medal of Honor to Thompson's mother at the Pentagon. Thompson became the first Black soldier to receive the award for the Korean War. His name later joined that of fellow Korean War recipient Cornelius Charlton in the Charlton-Thompson Garden in the Bronx.

The recognition preserved a specific example of courage within a regiment whose performance had often been judged through racial prejudice. Thompson's action was carried out at the machine gun, under repeated wounds, while the men around him sought the cover his continued firing made possible.