Baskin, Thomas Houston (WWI & WWII)

Thomas Houston Baskin's Headstone

Quick Facts

Significance:

Private - 62nd Pioneer Infantry, Company G (WW I) - 74th Station Hospital (WW II)

Place of Birth:

Rutherford County, Tennessee

Date of Birth:

March 5, 1897

Place of Death:

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Date of Death:

August 23, 1955

Place of Burial:

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Cemetery Name:

Stones River National Cemetery

Thomas Houston Baskin was born in Rutherford County, TN on March 5th, 1897. At the start of World War I, he volunteered to serve in the United States Army. He joined the 62nd Pioneer Infantry Regiment in Company G on November 9th, 1918 with the rank of private. 

The 62nd Pioneer Infantry Regiment was established in May of 1917 and was tasked to build infrastructure for the front lines such as constructing roads, trenches, and bridges. This infantry regiment required its soldiers to be skilled laborers in order to provide the most efficient support in these efforts. Company G of the 62nd Pioneer Infantry Regiment was an African American company. The soldiers often faced discrimination and had limited combat roles, but their responsibilities were crucial in the war effort for the front lines. 

The 62nd Pioneer Infantry Regiment left for France in November of 1918: however, while at sea armistice was declared, effectively ending World War I and the 62nd Pioneer Infantry's service. The men in the regiment were sent back to America, and Thomas transferred to Camp Wadsworth in South Carolina as a part of Company B of the 383rd Infantry. He remained there until his honorable discharge from the army on December 17th, 1918.

Baskin's service did not end with the Great War. On September 17, 1942 he stepped up again and served as a private supporting the 74th Station Hospital until March 1943. Thomas H. Baskin lived to be 58 years old and died in Murfreesboro, TN on August 23, 1955. He is laid to rest in the Stones River National Cemetery in plot P-6268.