Joseph "Colonel Joe" Henry Thompson (September 26, 1871 – February 1, 1928) was a highly decorated

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

veteran, recipient of the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of val ...

, lawyer,

Pennsylvania state senator The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ever ...

, head football coach of the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

Panthers Panther may refer to: Large cats *Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' **''Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. ***Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in Sout ...

, and

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vo ...

inductee.

College years

Geneva College

Thompson came to the United States from Ireland in 1898 at the age of 18 and entered

Geneva College Geneva College is a private Christian college in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1848, in Northwood, Ohio, the college moved to its present location in 1880, where it continues to educate a student body of about 1400 traditional underg ...

that year. He immediately became a basketball star and also participated in gymnastics and wrestling, but did not go out for football until 1900. He served as Geneva's player-coach for three years, with his football teams compiling a 27–2–3 record.

University of Pittsburgh

Thompson continued his education at the

, then called the Western University of Pennsylvania, where he played football from 1904 and 1906, during which time the Panthers compiled a 26–6 record. He captained the Pitt football team to its first perfect season in 1904 when the Panthers won all ten games and surrendered only one touchdown. Thompson graduated from Pitt in 1905 and continued on with post-graduate work in the

School of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, l ...

completing his law degree. While at Pitt he was a member of the

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Fiji, is a social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity with more than 144 active chapters and 10 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Washington & Jefferson College, Jefferson C ...

fraternity.

Professional life

Coaching

Following graduation from Pitt's law school, Thompson assumed the head coaching position at Pitt from 1909 to 1912, during which period he led Pitt to a 22–11–2 record. The highlight of his coaching tenure was the 1910 season in which Pitt went undefeated and unscored upon and was considered by many to be that season's national champion. While compiling its 9–0 record, Pitt outscored its opponents 282–0. During this time, he attended the

University of Pittsburgh School of Law The University of Pittsburgh School of Law (Pitt Law) was founded in 1895. It became a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools in 1900. Its primary home facility is the Barco Law Building. The school offers four degrees: Master ...

, graduating in 1909, and was admitted to the bar. A song to Thompson was written to honor him as football coach at Pitt. Entitled "Joe Thompson" it was sung to the tune of the American folk song "

Old Black Joe "Old Black Joe" is a parlor song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864). It was published by Firth, Pond & Co. of New York in 1860. Ken Emerson, author of the book ''Doo-Dah!'' (1998), indicates that Foster's fictional Joe was inspired by a servant in th ...

" by

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour and minstrel music during the Romantic period. He wrote more than 200 songs, inc ...

. Who plans the plays to spring upon the foe? :Who fought for Wup, five years or more ago? Who's still for Pitt, does anybody know? :Just hear those loyal rooters shouting: :::Joe! Joe! Joe! :::REFRAIN. We're coming, we're coming; :We have the foe in tow, So here's a cheer for Pittsburgh dear :And Joe! Joe! Joe! While at Pitt, Thompson also coached the track and field team beginning in 1904. At various points, he also coached football at Pittsburgh High School and Carnegie Technical Schools—now known as

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

—and was Rochester High School's first football coach.

Politics and law

Thompson represented the 47th District as a member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

in the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1913 to 1916 and practiced law in

Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania Beaver Falls is a city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 9,005 at the 2020 census. Located 31 miles (50 km) northwest of Pittsburgh, the city lies along the Beaver River, six miles (9 km) north of its c ...

until his death in 1928 from ailments aggravated by war wounds.

Hall of Fame

Thompson was inducted into the

National Football Foundation The National Football Foundation (NFF) is a non-profit organization to promote and develop amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States and "developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the dr ...

's College Football Hall of Fame in 1971 and has been inducted into the Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame in 1977.

Military service

Thompson enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard's Company H, 14th Infantry Regiment on February 16, 1905. He was promoted to second lieutenant on November 1, 1906; to captain in Company B, 10th Infantry, Pennsylvania National Guard on December 16, 1909; to major on June 29, 1912; to lieutenant colonel on October 28, 1918; and finally to colonel on March 15, 1919. While serving in WWI he was wounded four times: on September 29, 1918; September 30, 1918; October 1, 1918; and again on October 1, 1918, when he was gassed. He remained on duty after each instance. As of April 12, 1919, he was commanding the 110th Infantry Regiment. Thompson initially returned to the United States on May 11, 1919. He returned to France in June 1919, in order to redeploy the 110th Infantry Regiment to the United States. He was discharged from active duty in December 1919. While serving in France with the 110th Infantry, then Major Thompson was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his valor on October 1, 1918, during which action he was wounded for the fourth time. This decoration was subsequently upgraded to the Medal of Honor on October 5, 1925. His four wounds entitled him to wear four wound chevrons (the precursor to the Purple Heart which was reestablished by the President of the United States per War Department General Orders 3, 1932) on his uniform's lower right sleeve.

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Major, U.S. Army, 110th Infantry, 28th Division. Place and date: At Apremont, France; October 1, 1918. Entered service at: Beaver Falls, Pa. Born: September 26, 1871; Kilkeel, County Down, Ireland. General Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 21 (October 5, 1925). Citation:

Counterattacked by two regiments of the enemy, Major Thompson encouraged his battalion in the front line by constantly braving the hazardous fire of machineguns and artillery. His courage was mainly responsible for the heavy repulse of the enemy. Later in the action, when the advance of his assaulting companies was held up by fire from a hostile machinegun nest and all but one of the six assaulting tanks were disabled, Major Thompson, with great gallantry and coolness, rushed forward on foot three separate times in advance of the assaulting line, under heavy machinegun and antitank-gun fire, and led the one remaining tank to within a few yards of the enemy machinegun nest, which succeeded in reducing it, thereby making it possible for the infantry to advance.

Military awards

Thompson's military decorations and awards include:

Head coaching record

College football

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Joseph H. 1871 births 1928 deaths United States Army colonels Military personnel from County Down 19th-century Irish people American men's basketball players Carnegie Mellon Tartans football coaches Geneva Golden Tornadoes men's basketball coaches Geneva Golden Tornadoes men's basketball players Geneva Golden Tornadoes football players Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football players Pittsburgh Panthers track and field coaches Player-coaches High school football coaches in Pennsylvania College Football Hall of Fame inductees United States Army personnel of World War I Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Pennsylvania Irish-born Medal of Honor recipients Irish people of World War I Irish soldiers in the United States Army Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) United States Army Medal of Honor recipients World War I recipients of the Medal of Honor Republican Party Pennsylvania state senators People from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania People from County Down People from Kilkeel Players of American football from Pennsylvania Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) American military personnel killed in World War I