William Thompson

Who was William Thompson?

William Henry Thompson was a United States Army soldier and a 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 covering 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.