During the Korean War, the regiment Army Pfc. William Henry Thompson served on was scrutinized for a perceived lack of courage. Thompson, however, proved that incorrect when he gave his life to allow his fellow soldiers a chance to escape from an enemy onslaught. Thompson posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his selfless valor.
Thompson was born on Aug. 16, 1927, in New York City to a single mother, Mary Thompson. Not much is known about his childhood, but according to a National Park Service biography, Thompson dropped out of high school as a teen and spent time on the streets of Brooklyn and the Bronx before enlisting in the Army in October 1945.
After basic training, Thompson was stationed on the far western tip of the Aleutian Islands in Adak, Alaska. After about a year and a half, he reenlisted with the 6th Infantry Division, which was stationed in South Korea on post-World War II occupation duty.
When the 6th ID returned to the U.S., Thompson did not. He transferred to the 24th Infantry Regiment of the 25th ID, an all-Black unit that was serving in Japan as part of the post-war occupation.
When the Korean War began on June 25, 1950, the U.S. joined under the auspices of the United Nations to help South Korea fend of its North Korean invaders. Thompson and his unit were quickly sent to the peninsula to take part in the fight.
According to NPS, Thompson first saw combat on July 22, 1950, at the Battle of Sangju; however, the unit's unorganized withdrawal led many high-ranking officers to make claims that the 24th was a cowardly unit. After years of study, however, historians today believe that concern was based on racism of the time and that the unit's quick defeat had more to do with its lackluster training.
On Aug. 6, 1950, Thompson was part of a platoon attached to Company M that had just cleared the small village of Haman, South Korea. As they attempted to reorganize in the darkness, they were attacked by an overwhelming force of North Koreans who hurled hand grenades and unleashed deadly automatic weapons fire.
Thompson was in charge of one of the platoon's two machine guns, so he quickly worked to set it up. During that time, another gunner working with him was killed.
Once Thompson's gun was set up in the path of the onslaught, he swept the enemy with it, temporarily pinning them down long enough for the rest of his platoon to move to a more viable position.
Throughout the fight, Thompson was repeatedly hit by grenade fragments and small-arms fire. But when his platoon was ordered to retreat, he resisted all efforts to move toward safety. According to NPS, his final words to his lieutenant were, “Get out of here! I'll cover you.”
As his platoon members moved to higher ground to find a better defensive position, Thompson remained in place, firing his machine gun into the enemy. His fellow soldiers said they continued to hear his gun until several grenades exploded, and the sound of the machine gun stopped.
According to NPS, days after the battle, soldiers from Thompson's company found his body surrounded by enemy soldiers he'd killed before he died.
For his courage and self-sacrifice, Thompson was posthumously bestowed with the Medal of Honor on June 21, 1951. His mother received it on his behalf from famed Army Gen. Omar Bradley during a Pentagon ceremony. The honor made Thompson the first Black man to receive the Medal of Honor for actions in Korea.
Thompson is buried in Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York. In his honor, the Charlton-Thompson Garden in the Bronx was named for him and another Korean Medal of Honor recipient, Army Sgt. Cornelius H. Charlton.
This article is part of a weekly series called "Medal of Honor Monday," in which we highlight one of the more than 3,500 Medal of Honor recipients who have received the U.S. military's highest medal for valor.