Thomas W Kates

Thomas was born on the 7th of May 1861, in Shelby Center, New York, a rural area in between Niagara Falls and Rochester. He enlisted into the US Marine Corps on the 21st of July 1899, and in less than a year, he had deployed to China in support of the Boxer Rebellion as a Private. It was here that his actions would later earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:

In presence of the enemy during the advance on Tientsin, China, 21 June 1900, Kates distinguished himself by meritorious conduct.

One year later, Thomas received the Medal of Honor on the 19th of July 1901, and he reached the rank of Sergeant by the time he left the Marines in May of 1903. He was married to May and the couple had one child, Doris, who died as an infant. Thomas Wilbur Kates died on the 6th of May 1931, at the age of 69 and he is buried with his daughter in the Flushing Cemetery in Flushing, New York: Plot 3162, Section KPC. His Medal of Honor is located at the National Museum of the US Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia.