TRUMAN KIMBRO (? ~ 1944). While Medal of Honor Recipient Truman Kimbro's birth date is unknown; records indicate that he was born in Madisonville, Texas, to Mr. and Mrs. Tom Kimbro.
He joined the Army in Houston and after training was assigned as a scout to Company C, 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. By 1944, Kimbro was a Technician Fourth Grade.
On December 19, 1944, Kimbro's unit was assigned to mine an important crossroads near Rocherath, Belgium. Kimbro found the crossroads occupied by an enemy tank and 20 infantrymen. After making two attempts to reach his objective and forced to withdraw each time, Kimbro hid his squad and decided to mine the road alone.
He was severly wounded while crawling towards the crossroads, but continued to lay his mines. His objective complete, Kimbro attempted to crawl away, but was killed by enemy machine gun fire. The mines he laid helped prevent an enemy attack on withdrawing American columns and for his actions that night Kimbro was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
In 1944 the USNS Sgt. Kimbro, a Victory ship, was launched. Kimbro is buried at the American Battlefields Monument Cemetery at Chapelle, Belgium.
Bibliography: "Above and Beyond: The Medal of Honor in Texas," Capitol Visitors Center, State Preservation Board of Texas. Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, University of Texas, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/KK/fkigv.html, September 26, 2005. Navy History, http://www.historycentral.com/navy/AK/sgttrumankimbro.html, October 17, 2005.
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