PFC Richard Joseph Thompson was born 6 Apr 1910 in Paterson, New Jersey. He was the oldest of the 2 sons born to Richard Joseph and Lillian Marie (Maher) Thompson. Lillian was the elder Richard's 2nd wife by whom he had a daughter. The elder Richard was an Englishman and his father had been chief of police in Little Falls, New Jersey. He supported his wife and 3 children by working in the Paterson's city water works and died, age 55, in 1936. Young Richard went to work as a file clerk and was working for the Bank of Hawthorne in Hawthorne, New Jersey in 1940. He reported earnings of just $238 in 1939.
Registering for the draft in 1940 he was very soon drafted and began his training. He was then sent to England and assigned to L Company 116th Infantry where he trained for the planned amphibious landing and liberation of occupied France. He took part in the landings on 6 Jun 1944, D-Day, and was wounded in action. PFC Thompson died of his wound(s) the next day, 7 Jun 1944.
PFC Thompson is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery.
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