Thomas A. Pope (December 15, 1894 – June 14, 1989) was a soldier in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

who received 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 valo ...

for his actions at the Battle of Hamel, in France during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Pope's unit was attached to an

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...

battalion during the battle and, following a recommendation from an Australian officer, Pope was also awarded the

Distinguished Conduct Medal The Distinguished Conduct Medal was a decoration established in 1854 by Queen Victoria for gallantry in the field by other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military decoration, ranki ...

, by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

Biography

Pope was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on December 15, 1894. C He joined the Illinois National Guard at Chicago, before the US entered World War I. During the war, Pope served in Company "E", 131st Infantry Regiment, 33rd Division. By the time of the Battle of Hamel, he held the rank of corporal. Rank and organization: Corporal, US Army, . Place and date: At Hamel, France, 4 July 1918. Ill. Birth: Chicago, Ill. G.O. No.: 44, W.D., 1919. After the war, he was a district foreman for the Cook County Highway Department. He also served as a contact officer for the Veterans Administration. He was married and had three daughters. He died June 14, 1989. At the time he died, Pope was the only surviving US Army Medal of Honor recipient from World War I. He is buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

.Burial Detail: Pope, Thomas A (Section 35, Grave 3157)
– ANC Explorer

Medal of Honor

Citation:
His company was advancing behind the tanks when it was halted by hostile machinegun fire. Going forward alone, he rushed a machinegun nest, killed several of the crew with his bayonet, and, standing astride his gun, held off the others until reinforcements arrived and captured them.

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, Thomas A. 1894 births 1989 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Military personnel from Chicago Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal United States Army Medal of Honor recipients United States Army soldiers World War I recipients of the Medal of Honor

Biography

Medal of Honor

See also

References

Further reading

External links