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| Sgt. Truman Kimbro was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor during the Battle of the Bulge. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11221154/truman-carol-kimbro |
Truman was born May 27, 1919 in Madisonville, TX. His parents Thomas and Lemma were also born in Texas. His father was a farmer. Truman had two older half-brothers, three younger sisters, and two younger brothers. In 1940, Truman had completed one year of high school and was living at home and working on the family farm. He married the former Marjorie Brimberry.
He was inducted into the US Army on 2 December 1941 and served in the 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion of the 2nd Infantry Division. The 2nd ID arrived in Europe in October 1943 and trained for 10 months in Northern Ireland for the Normandy Invasion. The 2nd ID landed on Omaha beach on June 7, 1944 and fought their way across France before crossing into Germany on 3 October 1944.
On 19 December 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, Tec4 Kimbro was assigned to lead a squad to place anti-tank mines in a crossroads near Rocherath, Belgium to halt advancing German tanks. Finding that the area was covered by enemy forces, he left his men in a protected position and went forward alone. Although wounded on his approach, he continued on his mission and successfully laid mines across the road before being killed by enemy fire.
For these actions, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor five months later, on May 24, 1945. His citation reads:
On 19 December 1944, as scout, he led a squad assigned to the mission of mining a vital crossroads near Rocherath, Belgium.
On 19 December 1944, as scout, he led a squad assigned to the mission of mining a vital crossroads near Rocherath, Belgium.
At the first attempt to reach the objective, he discovered it was occupied by an enemy tank and at least 20 infantrymen. Driven back by withering fire, Technician 4th Grade Kimbro made 2 more attempts to lead his squad to the crossroads but all approaches were covered by intense enemy fire.
Although warned by our own infantrymen of the great danger involved, he left his squad in a protected place and, laden with mines, crawled alone toward the crossroads. When nearing his objective he was severely wounded, but he continued to drag himself forward and laid his mines across the road. As he tried to crawl from the objective his body was riddled with rifle and machinegun fire.
The mines laid by his act of indomitable courage delayed the advance of enemy armor and prevented the rear of our withdrawing columns from being attacked by the enemy.
Truman C. Kimbro is buried in Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial in Liege, Belgium. His wife remarried in 1954 and passed away in 2004.
Thank you Tec4 Kimbro for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Truman.
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This profile was written by Bob Fuerst. "I’m a NASA engineer, B-17 Flying Fortress enthusiast, and amateur genealogist so this kind of research is an ideal outlet for me. But more than anything, it’s a way to express my sincere appreciation for The Greatest Generation and the sacrifices that they made, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They should never be forgotten and I’m grateful to Don for allowing me to play a small part in honoring them."
Last year on this date I profiled B-24 gunner Sequoyah Downing. You can read about Sequoyah here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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