Thomas C. Neibaur
Encyclopedia
Thomas Croft Neibaur was the first Latter-day Saint (Mormon
) to receive the Medal of Honor
. He as also the first soldier from Idaho
to be awarded America's highest decoration, which occurred during World War I
.
(1808–1883). (link http://www.neibaur.org/journals/alexnotes.htm to "notes" on Alexander) Alexander was from Alsace-Lorraine, a graduate of medical and dental university training in Berlin
, and was fluent in several languages.
Thomas' great-grandfather, Alexander Neibaur was born January 8, 1808, in Ehrenbreistein in Alsace-Lorraine, which was at that time a part of Prussia. His father was Nathan Neibaur and his mother was Rebecca Peretz. His parents were of high class Hebrews, and his father was well educated as a physician and surgeon. His father was a personal physician to the great Napoleon Bonaparte. Not only was Nathan a well trained physician for his day, but he was also said to be an accomplished Linguist.
It is apparently Nathan Neibaur's skill as a linguist, rather than as a physician, that made him of great value to Napoleon as a interpreter. Even after Mr. Neibaur's retirement, the great soldier sought his help and offered him great sums of money to act as a spy, but Nathan was apparently opposed to Napoleon's principles and refused to join him.
Alexander moved to England
in the 1830s to establish a dental practice. He married Ellen Breakel Neibaur in 1833, also a German Jew who was born in England. Together they converted to Christianity while living near Preston, England, then in 1838 they both were baptized as Mormons, among the early British converts and also considered the first LDS converts of Jewish descent.
Eventually, Alexander Neibaur migrated with his family to the Mormon city of Nauvoo, Illinois
in 1841. There he became close friends and associates with early LDS leaders Joseph Smith
and Brigham Young
. (link http://www.neibaur.org/journals/alex.html to Alexander's diary) Eventually the Neibaurs made the trek to pioneer Utah
, and Thomas' grandfather, Joseph Neibaur, settled in Paris, Idaho
in 1880s. Thomas' parents were James C. Neibaur (1862–1938) and Elizabeth Croft Neibaur (1863–1938). Thomas was the ninth of ten children and when he was nine years old the family moved to Teton
, near Sugar City, Idaho
. Thomas and his father worked in the large sugar beet factory built in 1903, the namesake of Sugar City.
Though his parents and family remained faithful members of the LDS Church, Neibaur drifted from active participation. He always considered himself a believer in God, though he maintained he was not religious. But he never denied his Mormon roots and was very proud of his Mormon heritage.
on March 30, 1917, a week before the United States declaration of war
against Germany on April 6, 1917. The Army inducted him into federal service on April 8, and he then served in the Rocky Mountain northwest, guarding tunnels and railroad bridges until October 1917 when he and his 2nd Idaho Infantry Regiment was ordered to Camp Mills, Long Island. There he became an automatic rifleman in newly organized 41st Division of western states guardsman. Later moving to Camp Merritt, New Jersey
the 41st Division deployed to France
where it became a replacement division for the other units of the American Expeditionary Force
(AEF). Neibaur and thousands of other western guardsmen were transferred to other divisions already in France, he being assigned to M Company, 167th Infantry Regiment of the 42nd Division. This division was nicknamed the "Rainbow" division from a comment that Maj. Douglas MacArthur
said while serving on the army staff that it had soldiers from many states like a "rainbow" across the land from end to end. The 167th was a regiment of the Alabama National Guard, but as all units its 4,000 men were from the regular army, national guard and draftees. The regiment has its origin from the 4th Alabama with lineage and honors from when it was a regiment in the Confederate States army.
using a "banana clip" of 20 rounds. In February he went into the lines on the Lunéville
sector, and then later in March at the Barracat sector. He did not see any real combat except for artillery fire until March 1918, once the German "Ludendorff Offensive" commenced on March 21, 1918. He served on the Somme River
where the 42nd Division was part of the French 7th Army.
In June, more American divisions entered the front lines and Neibaur fought in several campaigns, the Aisne
, the Aisen-Marne, and the Champagne-Marne through August 1918. As with any infantry regiment, brigade or division, the units rotated and relieved one another on a routine basis. During this time, Neibaur was wounded or incapacitated temporarily by German mustard gas.
In August, Brig. Gen. Douglas MacArthur assumed command of the 84th Infantry Brigade which consisted of Neibaur's 167th Infantry Regiment and the Iowa National Guard 168th Infantry Regiment. In early September General John Pershing, commander of the AEF, received permission to "reduce" the salient
that had developed for several years at St. Mihiel, southeast of Verdun
. Beginning on September 12, 1918, the American 1st Army under Pershing commenced an offensive, the first independent American offensive in its own sector of the Western Front
. Within days, the crumbling German army was thrown back and the salient was reduced causing a "straightening" of the front line.
On September 26, the Americans launched their second offensive between the Argonne Forest on the left and Meuse River
on the right. By October 14, the 42nd Division was stalled along the strongly defended Kreimehilde "stellung" (German for position or line). Unlike the St. Mihiel, the Germans conducted an aggressive and spirited defense. The two main terrain features holding up the Rainbow division's advance were hills: Hill 288 and the Còte de Châtillon. The 167th, specifically the Neibaur's 3rd Battalion, received the order on the 15th to attack and capture Còte de Châtillon.
On October 16, 1918, the American attacks captured Còte de Châtillon, though there remained several pockets of German units and many isolated machine gun positions. Neibaur along with two other soldiers, an observer and a loader, volunteered to flank and remove a network of machine guns just over a hundred yards from "M" Company and 3rd Battalion's hastily occupied positions. Crawling up a draw between two spur
s, Neibaur's automatic rifle team encountered a wire obstacle and was then fired upon. Neibaur's two team members were killed and he received three wounds in the right thigh. Passing through the wire entanglements he positioned his automatic rifle behind a dirt berm. Some Germans observed his movement and approximately 50 or so attacked him. He opened fire with his Chauchat automatic rifle, killing or wounding most of them until his gun jammed, firing some 50 rounds or two and a half clips.
Discarding his automatic rifle, he tried to crawl or run downhill some 100 yards to friendly lines and was wounded a fourth time in the hip and fell unconscious. Awaking, he found himself captured by some fifteen or so Germans who had survived the counterattack against him. The Germans had to take cover due to the supporting fire from Neibaur's "M" Company. Neibaur then realized that the Germans had dropped on the ground near him his semi-automatic pistol, the Colt
made M1911
. He crawled to it and as he did so, some of the Germans charged him with bayonets, four of whom he killed immediately with his pistol and then within minutes, though wounded four times, he captured eleven Germans and led them to the American lines below.
s recovering from his wounds. His last wound by a German machine gun bullet remained in his hip the rest of his life. He was one of the first soldiers in the Army to be nominated for the Medal of Honor
. On February 9, 1919 at the AEF headquarters at Chaumont, France
, Gen. John Pershing presented the Medal of Honor to him, along with a dozen other officers and soldiers. Private Neibaur arrived home at Sugar City, Idaho on May 27, 1919 and was welcomed by a throng of some 10,000 people, celebrating a state-wide holiday proclaimed the governor who was in attendance as "Neibaur Day."
He married Sarah "Lois" Shepard in November 1919, she being six years older than he was and having a son from a previous marriage. Together they had nine children. In 1928, Neibaur had an accident at the sugar beet factory where his arm was severely mangled in a cutting machine. Workers had to disassemble the machine to free his arm. The Neibaurs had three sons who died from accidents: one (18 months old) drowned in an abandoned cesspool; another (two years) was killed by an automobile; and one (six years) died from burns and infection from a wood-burning stove.
By 1939, in the last dire years of the Depression
, Neibaur was destitute. He received a small pension from his Medal of Honor, and was a clerk for Works Progress Administration
(WPA). He was unable to feed and care for his family on his low income. US Senator William Borah of Idaho attempted to pass a law in the US Congress promoting Neibaur to the rank of major in the regular army, and then placing him on the retired list. This failed. Discouraged by his misfortune, Neibaur mailed his Medal of Honor and other decorations to Congress in Washington stating that "I cannot eat them." Local newspapers covered the story. (Time Magazine reference of Thomas' death and returning Medal of Honor http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,790666,00.html) Three days later he secured a position as a night security officer at the state capitol in Boise. His wife Lois died in 1940, at the age of forty-eight. Neibaur married Lillian Golden in 1941, and a short time later he entered a veterans' hospital in Walla Walla, Washington
for tuberculosis
and died there on December 23, 1942, at the age of forty-four. Four young sons were sent to an orphanage in Eaton Rapids, Michigan
. He and Lois are buried in Sugar City, Idaho, where the city park is named in his honor. His awards and decorations were returned to Mrs. Lillian Neibaur who donated them to the Idaho State Historical Society.
"God Armeth the Patriot" http://www.meridianmagazine.com/exstories/080930patriot.html
United States of America:
France:
Italy:
Montenegro:
Belgium:
Service Medal(s):
Official Campaign Designations and Private Neibaur's military records:
Below are the official campaign designations of World War I that Private Neibaur served in:
Somme Defensive March 21, - April 6, 1918
Aisne May 27, - June 5, 1918 (No clasp on Victory Medal)
Champagne - Marne 15-July 18, 1918
Aisne - Marne July 18, - 6 August 1918
St. Mihiel 12 - September 16, 1918
Meuse - Argonne September 26, - November 11, 1918
(NOTE: Official US Army campaign designations are found in Army Regulation 600-8-22.)
Citation:
Purple Heart
Montenegro:
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
) to receive the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
. He as also the first soldier from Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
to be awarded America's highest decoration, which occurred during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Mormon heritage and early life
Thomas Neibaur had a very strong family heritage and connection in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints beginning with his great-grandfather, Alexander NeibaurAlexander Neibaur
Alexander Neibaur was one of the first Jewish persons to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
(1808–1883). (link http://www.neibaur.org/journals/alexnotes.htm to "notes" on Alexander) Alexander was from Alsace-Lorraine, a graduate of medical and dental university training in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, and was fluent in several languages.
Thomas' great-grandfather, Alexander Neibaur was born January 8, 1808, in Ehrenbreistein in Alsace-Lorraine, which was at that time a part of Prussia. His father was Nathan Neibaur and his mother was Rebecca Peretz. His parents were of high class Hebrews, and his father was well educated as a physician and surgeon. His father was a personal physician to the great Napoleon Bonaparte. Not only was Nathan a well trained physician for his day, but he was also said to be an accomplished Linguist.
It is apparently Nathan Neibaur's skill as a linguist, rather than as a physician, that made him of great value to Napoleon as a interpreter. Even after Mr. Neibaur's retirement, the great soldier sought his help and offered him great sums of money to act as a spy, but Nathan was apparently opposed to Napoleon's principles and refused to join him.
Alexander moved to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in the 1830s to establish a dental practice. He married Ellen Breakel Neibaur in 1833, also a German Jew who was born in England. Together they converted to Christianity while living near Preston, England, then in 1838 they both were baptized as Mormons, among the early British converts and also considered the first LDS converts of Jewish descent.
Eventually, Alexander Neibaur migrated with his family to the Mormon city of Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo, Illinois
Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...
in 1841. There he became close friends and associates with early LDS leaders Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith was founder of what later became known as the Latter Day Saint movement or Mormons.Joseph Smith may also refer to:-Latter Day Saints:* Joseph Smith, Sr. , father of Joseph Smith...
and Brigham Young
Brigham Young
Brigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and a settler of the Western United States. He was the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1847 until his death in 1877, he founded Salt Lake City, and he served as the first governor of the Utah...
. (link http://www.neibaur.org/journals/alex.html to Alexander's diary) Eventually the Neibaurs made the trek to pioneer Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, and Thomas' grandfather, Joseph Neibaur, settled in Paris, Idaho
Paris, Idaho
Paris is a rural city located on the western side of the Bear Lake Valley in Bear Lake County, Idaho, United States. Its population was 576 at the 2000 census. The county seat of Bear Lake County, it was settled on September 26, 1863 by pioneer settlers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day...
in 1880s. Thomas' parents were James C. Neibaur (1862–1938) and Elizabeth Croft Neibaur (1863–1938). Thomas was the ninth of ten children and when he was nine years old the family moved to Teton
Teton, Idaho
Teton is a city in Fremont County, Idaho, United States. The population was 569 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Rexburg, Idaho Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Teton is located at ....
, near Sugar City, Idaho
Sugar City, Idaho
Sugar City is a city in Madison County, Idaho, United States. The population was 1,242 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Rexburg, Idaho Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
. Thomas and his father worked in the large sugar beet factory built in 1903, the namesake of Sugar City.
Though his parents and family remained faithful members of the LDS Church, Neibaur drifted from active participation. He always considered himself a believer in God, though he maintained he was not religious. But he never denied his Mormon roots and was very proud of his Mormon heritage.
Military service
Neibaur enlisted into the Idaho National GuardIdaho National Guard
The Idaho National Guard consists of the:*Idaho Army National Guard*Idaho Air National Guard-External links:*...
on March 30, 1917, a week before the United States declaration of war
Declaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...
against Germany on April 6, 1917. The Army inducted him into federal service on April 8, and he then served in the Rocky Mountain northwest, guarding tunnels and railroad bridges until October 1917 when he and his 2nd Idaho Infantry Regiment was ordered to Camp Mills, Long Island. There he became an automatic rifleman in newly organized 41st Division of western states guardsman. Later moving to Camp Merritt, New Jersey
Camp Merritt, New Jersey
Camp Merritt was a military base in Cresskill, in Bergen County, New Jersey, that was activated for use in World War I. It was from this camp that thousands of soldiers were deployed to Hoboken, New Jersey before being shipped off to Europe. Approximately four million troops were sent to the...
the 41st Division deployed to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
where it became a replacement division for the other units of the American Expeditionary Force
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces or AEF were the United States Armed Forces sent to Europe in World War I. During the United States campaigns in World War I the AEF fought in France alongside British and French allied forces in the last year of the war, against Imperial German forces...
(AEF). Neibaur and thousands of other western guardsmen were transferred to other divisions already in France, he being assigned to M Company, 167th Infantry Regiment of the 42nd Division. This division was nicknamed the "Rainbow" division from a comment that Maj. Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
said while serving on the army staff that it had soldiers from many states like a "rainbow" across the land from end to end. The 167th was a regiment of the Alabama National Guard, but as all units its 4,000 men were from the regular army, national guard and draftees. The regiment has its origin from the 4th Alabama with lineage and honors from when it was a regiment in the Confederate States army.
Campaigns and battles
Private Neibaur served as an automatic rifleman using the French manufactured Chauchat 9mm automatic rifleChauchat
The Chauchat , was the standard light machine gun of the French Army during World War I. Under the leadership of General Joseph Joffre, it was commissioned into the French Army in 1916. It was also widely used by the US Army in 1917-1918 and by six other nations: Belgium, Greece, Poland, Russia,...
using a "banana clip" of 20 rounds. In February he went into the lines on the Lunéville
Lunéville
Lunéville is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department and lies on the Meurthe River.-History:...
sector, and then later in March at the Barracat sector. He did not see any real combat except for artillery fire until March 1918, once the German "Ludendorff Offensive" commenced on March 21, 1918. He served on the Somme River
Somme River
The Somme is a river in Picardy, northern France. The name Somme comes from a Celtic word meaning tranquility. The department Somme was named after this river....
where the 42nd Division was part of the French 7th Army.
In June, more American divisions entered the front lines and Neibaur fought in several campaigns, the Aisne
Third Battle of the Aisne
The Third Battle of the Aisne was a battle of the German Spring Offensive during World War I that focused on capturing the Chemin des Dames Ridge before the American Expeditionary Force could arrive completely in France. It was one of a series of desperate offensives, known as the Kaiserschlacht,...
, the Aisen-Marne, and the Champagne-Marne through August 1918. As with any infantry regiment, brigade or division, the units rotated and relieved one another on a routine basis. During this time, Neibaur was wounded or incapacitated temporarily by German mustard gas.
In August, Brig. Gen. Douglas MacArthur assumed command of the 84th Infantry Brigade which consisted of Neibaur's 167th Infantry Regiment and the Iowa National Guard 168th Infantry Regiment. In early September General John Pershing, commander of the AEF, received permission to "reduce" the salient
Salient
Salient may refer to:* See Salients, re-entrants and pockets for the battlefield feature* Salient , part of a discrete territory projecting out of the main portion, bordered by foreign territory on three sides, into which it projects...
that had developed for several years at St. Mihiel, southeast of Verdun
Verdun
Verdun is a city in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc.- History :...
. Beginning on September 12, 1918, the American 1st Army under Pershing commenced an offensive, the first independent American offensive in its own sector of the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
. Within days, the crumbling German army was thrown back and the salient was reduced causing a "straightening" of the front line.
On September 26, the Americans launched their second offensive between the Argonne Forest on the left and Meuse River
Meuse River
The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
on the right. By October 14, the 42nd Division was stalled along the strongly defended Kreimehilde "stellung" (German for position or line). Unlike the St. Mihiel, the Germans conducted an aggressive and spirited defense. The two main terrain features holding up the Rainbow division's advance were hills: Hill 288 and the Còte de Châtillon. The 167th, specifically the Neibaur's 3rd Battalion, received the order on the 15th to attack and capture Còte de Châtillon.
On October 16, 1918, the American attacks captured Còte de Châtillon, though there remained several pockets of German units and many isolated machine gun positions. Neibaur along with two other soldiers, an observer and a loader, volunteered to flank and remove a network of machine guns just over a hundred yards from "M" Company and 3rd Battalion's hastily occupied positions. Crawling up a draw between two spur
Spur (mountain)
A spur is a subsidiary summit of a hill or mountain. By definition, spurs have low topographic prominence, as they are lower than their parent summit and are closely connected to them on the same ridgeline...
s, Neibaur's automatic rifle team encountered a wire obstacle and was then fired upon. Neibaur's two team members were killed and he received three wounds in the right thigh. Passing through the wire entanglements he positioned his automatic rifle behind a dirt berm. Some Germans observed his movement and approximately 50 or so attacked him. He opened fire with his Chauchat automatic rifle, killing or wounding most of them until his gun jammed, firing some 50 rounds or two and a half clips.
Discarding his automatic rifle, he tried to crawl or run downhill some 100 yards to friendly lines and was wounded a fourth time in the hip and fell unconscious. Awaking, he found himself captured by some fifteen or so Germans who had survived the counterattack against him. The Germans had to take cover due to the supporting fire from Neibaur's "M" Company. Neibaur then realized that the Germans had dropped on the ground near him his semi-automatic pistol, the Colt
Colt's Manufacturing Company
Colt's Manufacturing Company is a United States firearms manufacturer, whose first predecessor corporation was founded in 1836 by Sam Colt. Colt is best known for the engineering, production, and marketing of firearms over the later half of the 19th and the 20th century...
made M1911
M1911
The M1911 is a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine-fed, and recoil-operated handgun chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. John M. Browning designed the firearm which was the standard-issue side arm for the United States armed forces from 1911 to 1985. The M1911 is still carried by some U.S....
. He crawled to it and as he did so, some of the Germans charged him with bayonets, four of whom he killed immediately with his pistol and then within minutes, though wounded four times, he captured eleven Germans and led them to the American lines below.
Later tragic life
Private Thomas Neibaur spent several months in field hospitalField hospital
A field hospital is a large mobile medical unit that temporarily takes care of casualties on-site before they can be safely transported to more permanent hospital facilities...
s recovering from his wounds. His last wound by a German machine gun bullet remained in his hip the rest of his life. He was one of the first soldiers in the Army to be nominated for the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
. On February 9, 1919 at the AEF headquarters at Chaumont, France
Chaumont, Haute-Marne
Chaumont is a commune of France, and the capital of the Haute-Marne department. , it has a of 24,039.The city stands on the Marne River and is situated on the railway linking Paris and Basel, which runs over a 52 m tall and 600 m long viaduct built in 1856.- History :Historically the...
, Gen. John Pershing presented the Medal of Honor to him, along with a dozen other officers and soldiers. Private Neibaur arrived home at Sugar City, Idaho on May 27, 1919 and was welcomed by a throng of some 10,000 people, celebrating a state-wide holiday proclaimed the governor who was in attendance as "Neibaur Day."
He married Sarah "Lois" Shepard in November 1919, she being six years older than he was and having a son from a previous marriage. Together they had nine children. In 1928, Neibaur had an accident at the sugar beet factory where his arm was severely mangled in a cutting machine. Workers had to disassemble the machine to free his arm. The Neibaurs had three sons who died from accidents: one (18 months old) drowned in an abandoned cesspool; another (two years) was killed by an automobile; and one (six years) died from burns and infection from a wood-burning stove.
By 1939, in the last dire years of the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Neibaur was destitute. He received a small pension from his Medal of Honor, and was a clerk for Works Progress Administration
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
(WPA). He was unable to feed and care for his family on his low income. US Senator William Borah of Idaho attempted to pass a law in the US Congress promoting Neibaur to the rank of major in the regular army, and then placing him on the retired list. This failed. Discouraged by his misfortune, Neibaur mailed his Medal of Honor and other decorations to Congress in Washington stating that "I cannot eat them." Local newspapers covered the story. (Time Magazine reference of Thomas' death and returning Medal of Honor http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,790666,00.html) Three days later he secured a position as a night security officer at the state capitol in Boise. His wife Lois died in 1940, at the age of forty-eight. Neibaur married Lillian Golden in 1941, and a short time later he entered a veterans' hospital in Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla, Washington
Walla Walla is the largest city in and the county seat of Walla Walla County, Washington, United States. The population was 31,731 at the 2010 census...
for tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and died there on December 23, 1942, at the age of forty-four. Four young sons were sent to an orphanage in Eaton Rapids, Michigan
Eaton Rapids, Michigan
Eaton Rapids is a city in Eaton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,214 at the 2010 census.The city is located in the south of Eaton Rapids Township, on the boundary with Hamlin Township, though it is politically independent of both townships...
. He and Lois are buried in Sugar City, Idaho, where the city park is named in his honor. His awards and decorations were returned to Mrs. Lillian Neibaur who donated them to the Idaho State Historical Society.
Articles honoring Neibaur
Roses, Roses all the Way http://library.boisestate.edu/special/fishercolumn/number4.htm"God Armeth the Patriot" http://www.meridianmagazine.com/exstories/080930patriot.html
Military decorations
Individual decorationsUnited States of America:
- Medal of HonorMedal of HonorThe Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
- Purple HeartPurple HeartThe Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
France:
- Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
- Chevalier (Legion of Honor) - Croix de GuerreCroix de guerreThe Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
(Cross of War)
Italy:
- La Croce al Merito di GuerraWar Merit Cross (Italy)The Italian War Merit Cross was instituted by King Victor Emanuel III on 19 January 1918.From its institution till 30 May 1927, 1,034,924 Crosses were issued.-Eligibility:...
(War Merit Cross)
Montenegro:
- Военная медаль за храбрость - Silver Medal for Military Bravery
Belgium:
- I'm unable to find medal reference right now.
Service Medal(s):
- WWI Victory Medal with 5 Battle Clasps:
- Champagne-Marne,
- Aisne-Marne,
- St. Mihiel,
- Meuse-Argonne,
- Defensive Sector
Official Campaign Designations and Private Neibaur's military records:
Below are the official campaign designations of World War I that Private Neibaur served in:
Somme Defensive March 21, - April 6, 1918
Aisne May 27, - June 5, 1918 (No clasp on Victory Medal)
Champagne - Marne 15-July 18, 1918
Aisne - Marne July 18, - 6 August 1918
St. Mihiel 12 - September 16, 1918
Meuse - Argonne September 26, - November 11, 1918
(NOTE: Official US Army campaign designations are found in Army Regulation 600-8-22.)
Medal of Honor citation
- Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, Company M, 167th Infantry, 42d Division.
- Place and date: Near Landres-et-St. Georges, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, October 16, 1918. - Entered service at: Sugar City, IdahoSugar City, IdahoSugar City is a city in Madison County, Idaho, United States. The population was 1,242 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Rexburg, Idaho Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
. - Born: May 17, 1898, Sharon, Idaho.
- General Orders No.118, War Department, 1918.
Citation:
On the afternoon of 16 October 1918, when the Cote-de-Chatillion had just been gained after bitter fighting and the summit of that strong bulwark in the Kriemhilde Stellung was being organized, Pvt. Neibaur was sent out on patrol with his automatic rifle squad to enfilade enemy machinegun nests. As he gained the ridge he set up his automatic rifle and was directly thereafter wounded in both legs by fire from a hostile machinegun on his flank. The advance wave of the enemy troops, counterattacking, had about gained the ridge, and although practically cut off and surrounded, the remainder of his detachment being killed or wounded, this gallant soldier kept his automatic rifle in operation to such effect that by his own efforts and by fire from the skirmish line of his company, at least 100 yards in his rear, the attack was checked. The enemy wave being halted and Iying prone, 4 of the enemy attacked Pvt. Neibaur at close quarters. These he killed. He then moved alone among the enemy Iying on the ground about him, in the midst of the fire from his own lines, and by coolness and gallantry captured 11 prisoners at the point of his pistol and, although painfully wounded, brought them back to our lines. The counterattack in full force was arrested to a large extent by the single efforts of this soldier, whose heroic exploits took place against the skyline in full view of his entire battalion.
See also
- List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War I
Further reading
- James Hopper, Medals of Honor, 1929. (Daughter Marian has signed first edition) (Great Grand Daughter has library edition) (First edition is also housed in the Federal Govt. library, Kansas?)
- Sherman L. FleekSherman L. FleekSherman L. Fleek is an American military historian, born at Hill AFB and raised in Layton, Utah, specializing on Mormon military history. He has also written on topics related to Latter-day Saint history that are not always military in nature...
, Place the Headstones Where They Belong: Thomas Neibaur, WWI Soldier," Logan: University of Utah Press, 2008.
Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
Montenegro: