Thomas Daniel Saunders

Thomas Daniel Saunders was born on 28 April 1892 in Medicine Bow, Carbon, Wyoming to John W. Saunders (?-?) and Ella Hopper (?-?). Saunders was of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, located in Montana. Few details are known about Saunders’ family, education, and pre-teen years. In the 1910s, he resided in Medicine Bow, by time of his enlistment, Saunders had moved to Cheyenne in Laramie County.

Saunders’ emergency contact into the 1920s was a rancher by the name of Daniel McUlvan (1846-1926) of no known relation.

Saunders enlisted in the U.S. Army on 12 May 1917 in Laramie County, assigned as a Private Saunders Company A, 2^nd Engineers, 2^nd Division. Saunders and Co. A sailed to France aboard the U.S. Army Transport Ship Carpathia on 8 October 1917. Then-Corporal Saunders received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions near Jaulny, France on 12 September 1918;

“The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Corporal Thomas D. Saunders (ASN: 156126), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action while serving with Company A, 2d Engineers, 2d Division, A.E.F., at Jaulny, France, 12 September 1918. Corporal Saunders and another soldier, who were acting as wire cutters with the first line of infantry, fought their way forward in advance of their units and were the first to enter Jaulny while it was swept by machine-gun fire, infested with snipers, and still occupied by rear guard detachments of the enemy. After capturing eight Germans in a dugout they searched the caves in the town and took 55 additional prisoners.”

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“Here is an extract from a letter written by Sergt. Major Maurice Long:

Corporal Thomas D. Saunders, Company A, Second Engineers, while a member of the first wire cutting platoon, made his way forward in advance of the unit until he was in line with and in company with Private Wilkerson, Company B, Second Engineers, were the first soldiers to enter Jaulny, then infested with snipers, and swept with wicked machine gunfire, being occupied by rearguard detachments of the enemy. They alone captured 63 German prisoners after searching the caves of a hospital with persistence and courage.

Corporal Thomas D. Saunders, Company A, Second Engineers; at St. Etienne-a-Armes, on October 8^th 1918, he bravely conducted a patrol under heavy fire. During the night he made a reconnaissance close to the enemy, of the position which his section was to occupy in the front, and returning, conducted it to that position.

Such heroism is understood by a man’s comrades more than can be explained in writing, as during time of stress, the one who does what Saunders did, does it with no thought of self but only of carrying out to the best of his ability what he believes his duty to be. In my close contacts during and since the World War with Saunders, I can state that everything he does is a bit better and with more energy than other men of equal physique would do the same thing. During the World War, Saunders served with valor at Chateau Thierry and was evacuated from there. He served at St. Mihiel; Blanc Mont (Champagne), where gain he was evacuated wounded, and in Germany during the occupation of the Second Division. He received the Distinguished Service Cross for his conduct on October 8^th, 1918, and the Croix de Guerre with Palm for his valorous conduct on September 12, 1918. And this man is a Cheyenne, of which tribe Mooney, famous ethnologist, says, ‘they are proud, contentious, and brave to desperation’.”

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Cpl Saunders may have also received the French Croix de Guerre at an unknown level and Purple Heart. Cpl Saunders and Co. A left Brest, France aboard the U.S. Army Transport Ship U.S.S. Finland on 25 July 1919, arriving in New York on 4 August.

In the 1920s, Cpl Saunders was based at Fort Riley, Kansas. Saunders served as a body bearer for the first Unknown Soldier at the Tomb of the Unknown, Arlington National Cemetery, in November of 1921.

Then-Sergeant Saunders was stationed in Manila, Philippine Islands in 1925, and returned to San Francisco, California aboard the U.S. Army Transport Ship Thomas on 9 May. In June of 1926, he was assigned to Fort McDowell, California. In the 1930s, Sgt. Saunders was based at Fort Logan, Colorado; his final enlistment date is 15 July 1929, with an Honorable Discharge on 21 November 1930 at the rank of Staff Sergeant. In the 1940s, he lived at 235 S. Hope St., Los Angeles, California, and 336 S. Flower St.

Saunders died in his home on Flower St. of an unknown cause on 15 November 1947; he is buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery in Bruno, California. He never married and had no children.