Montgomery Cunningham Meigs

Montgomery Cunningham Meigs (/ˈmɛɡz/; August 10, 1919 – December 11, 1944) was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army and commander of a tank battalion during World War II. He is the great-great-grandnephew of Montgomery C. Meigs, Quartermaster of the Union Army during the American Civil War, and father of General Montgomery Meigs (1945–2021). He was killed in action during the first weeks of battle faced by the 12th Armored Division during the liberation of Alsace in France.

Early life and education Meigs was the youngest of three sons of Commander John Forsyth Meigs of the United States Navy (1890–1963) and Elisabeth Hubbard Meigs (1894–1991). He was born in Weston, Massachusetts, and due to his father's naval posting, he attended 8 different schools, graduating from the Brent School in Baguio, Philippines, and attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, graduating 44th in his class in 1940. During the latter part of his school career he was handicapped by a painful back injury which kept him in a plaster cast for six months and in an iron brace for a year.

Military career Upon graduation from West Point in 1940, Meigs chose to enter the cavalry and first served in the 8th Cavalry Regiment, at Fort Bliss, Texas. In 1941, he was transferred to the 2nd Armored Division and in 1942 to the 7th Armored Division, serving as an MP at Fort Polk, Louisiana. While in these two divisions he was seriously and painfully injured in motorcycle accidents, first with a broken neck vertebra and second with a broken knee. He was given command of the 23rd Tank Battalion of the 12th Armored Division after his second discharge from the hospital, and went overseas to the European Theater of Operations with the division in September 1944.

The first mission given to the 23rd Tank Battalion was to support the 17th Armored Infantry Battalion (AIB) in attacking the barracks at Binning on December 9, 1944. A platoon of five tanks from Company A led by 1st Lieutenant Robert Seymour supported the infantry advance, while the rest of the tank battalion fired on the barracks from the flank. Leaving from Rohrbach at 0930, Colonel Meigs, with his S-2 Captain Virgil Thorp in the gunner's seat of the M-4 with a 75mm gun, advanced to a position on a ridge that allowed Meigs to observe and direct the fire. The tanks encountered anti-tank mines, and heavy artillery and mortar attacks from the 11th Panzer Division. "Never once did the colonel close his turret hatch. He would just duck his head when an enemy round would land near the tank and be right up again to observe the action of the enemy and his own forces."

The tanks held their position overnight, while Meigs walked back to division headquarters because the areas was heavily mined. One company commander was killed and another seriously wounded when they drove back to headquarters that night. While waiting to speak to General Ennis at division headquarters, Meigs found that his canteen on his pistol belt had been pierced by shrapnel.

One G.I. (most likely from the 17th AIB, which together with the 23rd Tank Battalion and the 435th Armored Field Artillery, constituted Combat Command Reserve (CCR) ) who was following Meigs' tank, was hit by an enemy artillery barrage. Meigs stopped his tank, dismounted, picked up the soldier and, with Captain Thorp, placed him on the deck of his tank. He ordered the tank to move to a position of cover from a large pillbox, where he personally administered first aid and morphine to the wounded soldier. He was evacuated later losing both legs but he lived due to the action of Meigs. They had one son, Montgomery Meigs, who was born one month after his death,