From Kansas Fields to Vietnam Fronts
By Julia Jasmer
Samuel Fred Thompson Jr.
4/16/1929-3/29/2001
Samuel Fred Thompson Jr. was born on April 16th, 1929, in Fall River, Kansas.[1] Fall River is a city in Greenwood County, Kansas. Its namesake comes from the river it’s situated on, and the area has very humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. In 1930, the population of Fall River was a total of 339 people.
Samuel’s immediate family included his mother, father, and younger brother. Samuel’s father, Samuel Fred Thompson Sr, was born in 1891 in Kansas. He was 38 years old when Samuel Jr. was born, and he worked as a farmer in the general farm industry. Samuel Sr’s parents, Samuel Jr’s grandparents, were both born in America. Samuel Jr’s paternal grandfather was born in Iowa, and his paternal grandmother was born in Connecticut. Samuel Jr.’s father worked on his own account, not as a part of a business or corporation.
Samuel’s mother, LaDana Thompson, was born in 1907 and was 23 years old when Samuel Jr. was born. Both of LaDana’s parents were born in Kansas. She worked as a housewife, also known as a homemaker. LaDana and her husband got married in 1927. They rented their home, and both LaDana and Samuel Sr. could read, write, and speak English fluently. Harold Louis Thompson was Samuel Jr.’s younger brother by two years and was born on July 6th, 1931, in Kansas. Harold was stricken with Polio at age 12 and soon after confined to a wheelchair. He resided with their parents at home for many years. Later, he became a resident at Timbers in Wichita, working at Boeing under the handicap program. Following this, he moved to the Augusta Medical Complex.
On January 9th, 1948, Samuel Fred Thompson Jr. began his service in the United States Army. He served for 18 years as a StaffSergeant. A Staff Sergeant is a non-commissioned officer usually placed in command of around 9 to 10 soldiers. Staff Sergeants will regularly have one or more Sergeants serving under them. Samuel most likely earned a wage of around $169.05 as a Staff Sergeant. His wage would gradually increase with every year he spent in the Army. He served in the Vietnam War from 1955 until December 9th, 1967, when he retired from his military service.
Following his service, Samuel moved to the city of Englewood in Arapahoe, Colorado. Sadly, grief struck the Thompson family a few years after the Vietnam War ended. Samuel Jr’s father died at 88 years old on July 27th, 1979. A little over a decade later, Harold passed away on September 23rd, 1992. Harold was 61 years old when he died at HCA Wesley Medical Center in Wichita. Not much later after Harold’s death, Samuel’s mother LaDana, died at 87 years old as a retired nurse’s aide. Unfortunately, Samuel Fred Thompson Jr. also passed away soon after. He died on March 29th, 2001, at 71 years old. He was laid to rest at Fort Logan National Cemetery among other honored veterans for his service to this country.
Footnotes ↓
[1] Infomration for this biography can be found at:
www.findagrave.com/memorial/180312371/samuel_f-thompson. www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V92T-7TL?lang=en www.ancestry.com/search/?searchOrigin=navigation_header.
More Stories
