Howard Thompson

Howard Thompson (April 16, 1917 – Feb. 2, 1944) was a soldier from Oneida who died in a stateside aircraft crash during World War II.

See Also: Scott Countians killed in war

Biography

Born April 16, 1917, Howard Thompson was the son of Martha Jane Thompson (1886-1976). He had a sister, Maxine Shannon (1920-2005). His mother never married; it’s not clear who his father was.

The family lived in Oneida. In 1940, Howard lived with his mother and sister on Alberta Street and worked as a night watchman at Pearson Hardwood Flooring Co., which would later become Tibbals (and was later known as Hartco and then Armstrong) after World War II.

He married Shirley Mae Black (1921-1984) of Pulaski County, Va., and they had a son, Bobby Wayne Thompson (1941-2011).

World War II

Sgt. Thompson enlisted in the U.S. Army. He died in a crash of a B-24 Liberator bomber less than two miles from David-Monthan Field in Tucson, Ariz. on Feb. 2, 1944. He was one of two service members killed in the crash, suffering third degree burns when the plane exploded upon contact with the ground. Eight other people aboard the plane survived.

Aftermath

Sgt. Thompson’s body was returned to Scott County and he was buried at Marcum Cemetery in Oneida.

Shirley remarried to Henry M. Underwood (1912-2007) of Pulaski County, Va. She spent the rest of her life there and died in 1984. Bobby married Janet Busch and moved to Cammack, N.Y. He died in 2011.