Thorne Middle School honors namesake’s memory

In December 1945, a local farm boy died in a hail of bullets while fighting the German war machine near a small village in Belgium.

Edith Nowles speaks to students at Thorne Middle Schoo, Middletown, about her brother, Horace “Buddy” Thorne, at an assembly commemorating the 65th anniversary of the Medal of Honor winner’s death during the Battle of the Bulge. More photos, page 3. ERIC SUCAR staff Sixty-five years later, his survivors, veterans and Middletown officials joined students, staff and school district officials in honoring Horace “Buddy” Thorne, the namesake of Thorne Middle School.

Thorne was the first person from Monmouth County to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military award of the United States.

As a highlight of the Jan. 8 ceremony, members of the Student Council unveiled the school’s new Memorial Wall to Thorne. The wall includes a plaque with his Medal of Honor, a framing of several of his other medals, letters marking his service from Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson, and several photographs of Thorne.

Clockwise from top: Attendees browse the new Horace M. “Buddy” Thorne Wall of Honor at Thorne Middle School on Jan. 8. The wall features Thorne’s Congressional Medal of Honor, photos and other memorabilia. The school’s namesake, Thorne was the first Monmouth County resident to earn the Medal of Honor. The school chorus performs and veterans listen to speakers during ceremonies marking the unveiling of the wall, planned for the 65th anniversary of Thorne’s death during the Battle of the Bulge. More photos at www.gmnews.com. Thorne died in the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge, Nazi Germany’s lastditch effort to stop the advancing Allied forces. The Germans managed to break the Allied line under heavy snowfall but were eventually forced to retreat after weeks of heavy fighting.

PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff According to his citation, Thorne led a combat patrol to dig out entrenched Germans near the small village of Grufflingen, Belgium, on Dec. 21. While in a wooded area, his unit encountered a German tank and several machine gun nests. American light tanks traveling with the unit disabled the tank, and Thorne gunned down members of its escaping crew. Under intense machine gun fire, Thorne left his covered position to creep up to the tank, where he threw two grenades into its turret to finish off the tank crew.

Still under intense fire, Thorne went back to his original position and dragged his light machine gun on top of the tank. From there, he fired into the German positions, forcing the enemy soldiers to abandon two machine gun nests. At this point, Thorne’s machine gun jammed and he was shot dead while trying to clear it. Thorne killed or wounded 12 German soldiers before dying.

“Cpl. Thorne, displaying heroic initiative and intrepid fighting qualities, inflicted costly casualties on the enemy and insured the success of his patrol’s mission by the sacrifice of his life,” reads his citation.

The hallway also has student projects recognizing other heroes from the civil rights movement and the Holocaust, among others.

Anita Thorne Keyser, Thorne’s oldest surviving sister, told the assembly her brother’s memory serves as an important reminder to never dismiss yourself or your abilities.

“Heroes come in all sizes. You never know who’s going to be a hero,” she said.

Social studies classes at the school completed projects on Thorne and other heroes. The class work reflected a recent policy switch in the district that emphasizes students solving challenges instead of listening to lectures, said Superintendent Karen Bilbao.

For example, eighth-grade classes did projects on Middletown during Thorne’s lifetime and the Battle of the Bulge, said Cynthia Mc- Cormick, a social studies teacher. Projects hanging in the main hallway showed photographs of Middletown from the 1930s and the cost of food and basic necessities.

As for information on Thorne himself, students scoured digital archives of the defunct Red Bank Register, McCormick said. Despite students’ efforts, there wasn’t much to be found.

“What they found out is that there isn’t a whole lot of information,” she said.

Zach Harvey, an eighth-grader at the middle school, said he wasn’t sure how much he was able to learn from the project, considering the lack of information available to the public on Thorne’s life. One thing he was sure of, however, was Thorne’s impact on the school.

“We’re obviously proud to be here and a part of Cpl. Thorne’s legacy,” he said.