Joseph was drafted in August 1943. He took his initial military training at Camp Blanding, Florida and left for England in April 1944. However he was not assigned to B Company 116th Infantry until he was transferred from the replacement depot to the unit on 17 Jul 1944. At this time the unit was in the vicinity of Saint-Lo and PVT Joseph fought with the unit in the liberation of Vire. He was promoted to PFC on 13 Aug 1944. PFC Thompson was with the unit as the regiment began the campaign to liberate Brest. Although it wasn't recorded in the morning report, he was promoted to SGT sometime before 15 Sep 1944 when he was wounded by German machine gun fire. Evacuated to hospital he underwent surgery but died on 15 Sep 1944.
SGT Thompson was ultimately interred in the Brittany American Cemetery. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for his actions on the day he died.
Younger brother, Gerard Alphonsus Thompson, also served in the U.S. Army during the war.
No comments:
Post a Comment