Last updated: May 28, 2026
Person
Baskin, Thomas Houston
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Quick Facts
Significance:
Company H, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
Place of Birth:
Rutherford County, Tennessee
Date of Birth:
May 17, 1921
Place of Death:
Rösslerhof, Germany
Date of Death:
November 25, 1944
Place of Burial:
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Cemetery Name:
Stones River National Cemetery
Thomas Houston Baskin was born on May 17, 1921, in Rutherford County, Tennessee. He volunteered for service in the U.S. Army in September 1942 and was assigned to Company H, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. He would take part in some of the most perilous campaigns of the Mediterranean and European Theaters during World War II.
Known as the “Big Red One” for its distinctive shoulder patch, the 1st Infantry Division is one of the Army’s oldest, most renowned, and most highly decorated units. Company H served as a heavy weapons company, equipped with two heavy machine gun platoons and a mortar platoon that provided critical fire support to frontline infantry.
Baskin deployed to the Mediterranean Theater, surviving intense combat during the Tunisian Campaign and the amphibious invasion of Sicily, Operation Husky. After landing in Sicily on July 10, 1943, the 16th Infantry Regiment pushed inland through rugged terrain before being counterattacked by German armored forces. By July 14, the regiment had fought its way through several towns and heavily fortified positions. In August, after a difficult battle against the German 15th Panzergrenadier Division, the regiment captured the strategic town of Troina, helping secure Allied victory in Sicily. Baskin then departed with the division for England to prepare for the invasion of Nazi-occupied France.
On June 6, 1944, Private First Class Baskin landed with Company H in the first wave of Allied troops on Omaha Beach in the Easy Red sector. Carrying heavy machine guns and mortars through neck-deep water under devastating enemy fire, his unit played a vital role in suppressing German fortifications and enabling infantry assaults beyond the shoreline. By noon on D-Day, the 16th Infantry Regiment had broken through German defenses and established a foothold inland.
In July 1944, as the Allied advance stalled in Normandy, the 16th Infantry Regiment was committed to the offensive that would become the breakout from the hedgerow country. On July 27, the regiment attacked through a breach in the German lines, helping trigger the collapse of organized German resistance in western France. Within days, Allied forces surged eastward as German units retreated. Baskin survived the breakout from Normandy and the rapid advance across France and Belgium during the summer and fall of 1944.
By late November, the 1st Infantry Division was operating under horrific conditions near the German border. Soldiers endured freezing temperatures, rain, and snow while fighting through dense forests littered with German Schu-mines, booby traps, and hidden defensive positions. Artillery shells burst in the treetops above, showering the ground with deadly shrapnel. The 16th Infantry Regiment was ordered to clear heavily fortified terrain southeast of Aachen, advancing through the communities of Hamich and Stolberg toward the Roer River.
One key objective was Rösslerhof, a fortified farmstead near Hamich that German defenders had transformed into a strongpoint. The stone buildings and surrounding ridges commanded the approaches through the area. The regiment's 2nd Battalion, including Company H, was tasked with assaulting and securing these positions to prevent German counterattacks.
As members of the heavy weapons company, Baskin and his fellow soldiers hauled 81mm mortars and heavy machine guns through mud, shattered forests, and enemy fire to support advancing riflemen. Because they provided the suppressive fire needed to neutralize German pillboxes and strongpoints, they became prime targets for enemy snipers, machine-gun crews, and artillery.
During the fierce fighting to clear the Rösslerhof sector, PFC Thomas Houston Baskin sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the chest on November 25, 1944. He was 23 years old.
After the war, Thomas Baskin's remains were returned home to Tennessee and laid to rest at Stones River National Cemetery, plot P-6263, where his service and sacrifice continue to be remembered.