Thomas C. Neibaur  Thomas Croft Neibaur (May 17, 1898 – December 23, 1942) was the first Latter-day Saint (Mormon) to receive the Medal of Honor. He was also the first soldier from Idaho to be awarded the Medal of Honor. Neibaur was an automatic rifleman who served in France during World War I. On October 16, 1918, while in battle at Côté de Chatillion, while trying to eliminate a machine gun nest, Neibaur became surrounded by 15 German soldiers. With a pistol, Neibaur killed four, and captured eleven. He received six medals for his bravery and "heroic exploits", as well as a purple heart. Afflicted by the Great Depression, Neibaur had little money and couldn't feed his family. Neibaur eventually sent his medals to Congress stating, "I cannot eat them." Neibaur died three years later of tuberculosis. Thomas C. Neibaur Veteran Park was dedicated in Sugar City, Idaho with a monument commemorating Neibaur. His war medals reside with the Idaho State Historical Society. Thomas Neibaur had a very strong family heritage and connection in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) beginning with his great-grandfather, Alexander Neibaur (1808–1883). Alexander was from Alsace-Lorraine, a graduate of medical and dental university training in Berlin, and was fluent in several languages. Thomas' grandfather, Joseph Neibaur, settled in Paris, Idaho in the 1880s. Thomas' parents were James C. Neibaur (1862–1938) and Elizabeth Croft Neibaur (1863–1938). The ninth of ten children, Thomas was born in Sharon, Idaho. When he was eleven years old, the family moved to Teton, near Sugar City, Idaho. Thomas and his father worked in the large sugar beet factory built in 1903, the namesake of Sugar City. In August 1907, Neibaur was baptized into the LDS Church. Though his parents and family remained faithful members of the LDS Church, Neibaur drifted from active participation. He always considered himself a believer in God, though he maintained he was not religious. Even though he was not an active member of the LDS Church, he maintained connections to it because of his family. Neibaur enlisted into the Idaho National Guard on March 30, 1917, a week before the United States declaration of war against Germany on April 6, 1917.