Cpl. Thomas Daniel Saunders was a Northern Cheyenne Indian born in Medicine Bow, Wyoming on April 28, 1892. At the outset of America’s involvement in the First World War, Native Americans were not allowed to enlist. This situation was rectified in June of 1917 and as soon as it was, Saunders joined the Allied Expeditionary Forces.

He served in Company A, 2nd Engineers, 2nd Division and received his baptism of fire during the Battle of Château-Thierry in July 1918, where he was wounded in action. A few months later he led a daring patrol under fire at the town of Jaulny, where he and a fellow Doughboy captured an astonishing 63 German prisoners. For this, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. One month later at Blanc Mont, Saunders led another audacious patrol that earned him the French Croix de Guerre.
Speaking of Saunders, his commanding officer noted: “This soldier has shown himself under trying situations to be far above his comrades, in all operations requiring alertness, coolness, and dependability, backed by fearlessness.”

When the war over and Gen. John Pershing was given the responsibility of hand picking the body bearers for the dedication ceremony of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, he picked Saunders to be one of the six.
Saunders remained in the U.S. Army for nearly 20 more years before being discharged and working for the Army Corps of Engineers in Los Angeles. 

He died on November 15, 1947, Wyoming’s most decorated enlisted man of World War I. He now rests in Section L, Site 6563 at Golden Gate National Cemetery. 

The Body Bearers carried the casket to the prepared burial site in Arlington National Cemetery. Visible in the front, from left to right, are Corporal Thomas D. Saunders, Gunnery Sergeant Ernest Janson, and Sergeant Samuel Woodpile. 

After the war ended, Gen. John Pershing, the General of the Armies and commander of the American Expeditionary Force in WWI, “hand-picked” Saunders to serve as a body bearer for the unknown soldier, according to a newspaper article titled, "Medicine Bow Man Carried the Casket of the Unknown Soldier."

found in this online newspaper article: https://www.wyomingnews.com/rawlinstimes/news/medicine-bow-man-carried-the-casket-of-the-unknown-soldier/article_b3a58830-b148-5b39-a0c7-4307c063c981.html

Medicine Bow Man Carried the Casket of the Unknown Soldier

Tomb of the unknown soldier, Front row, first person from the left is Thomas Saunders

Golden Gate National Cemetery

Great story about a Native American and true Patriot!!!

THOMAS DANIEL SAUNDERS

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