John Andrew Thompson

John was born in Beloit, Ohio on May 16, 1924 the 3rd son and one of 11 children born to Harvey and Blanche Thompson. He attended Goshen High School where he participated in many club activities, played basketball and football, and earned many scholastic awards.

After graduating from high school at the age of 16, he attended Kent State University for two years before joining the Army. At age 18, he was approved for Officer Candidate School and Flight Training. Upon graduating as a 2nd Lt. attached to the 1st Army Air Corps, he became a test pilot and flew the later variants of the P-51 and the XP-59 Airacomet, the Nation’s first turbo-jet powered fighter aircraft. Following WWII, his skills as a pilot found him in East Asia stationed at Iwo Jima. In 1950, he served in Korea with the 6147th Tactical Control Group (The Mosquito Squadron) flying the T-6 Texan. It was at this time that the Capt. Thompson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for flying his T-6 along a ridge to draw enemy fire so the Bombers he was escorting could hit their target.

By 1954, he was back in Ohio continuing his service by working in the Foreign Technology Division at Wright Patterson AFB. He met and married the love of his life, Leslie Ruth Rigdon on December 19, 1954. In 1970, he was sent into flight service, again to join the 553rd Reconnaissance Squadron (The BatCats) where he flew the EC-121 out of Korat AFB near Bangkok, Thailand in surveillance of North Vietnam.

He returned to WPAFB where he retired in 1973 with the rank of Lt. Col. after 31 years of service. He will be remembered as a kind, soft spoken, humble man who loved his family and his country and a Hero in the truest sense of the word.

He is preceded in death by his beloved wife of 49 years Leslie Ruth (Rigdon) Thompson in 2003, his parents, Harvey and Blanche Thompson, sisters Mary, Martha, Jane, Lois, Ann, Ruth and brothers Robert, Harvey, Richard and Joseph. He is survived by his daughter Laura and sons, John, Jr. (Ann) and James, grandsons Alan, Scott and Nathan and many loving nieces and nephews.

Graveside services will 1:00 pm, Wednesday, January 5, 2022 at Mt. Zion Park Cemetery, 27 South Fairfield Road, Beavercreek, Ohio.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Martha Thompson Corbett Memorial Scholarship Fund (Kent State University), (https://www.kent.edu/ehhs/school-teaching-learning-curriculum-studies-scholarships).