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| Staff Sergeant Delmar Thompson was a B-24 gunner in the 90th Bombardment Squadron. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/114382883/delmar-a-thompson https://www.flickr.com/photos/143513596@N02/44905266851 |
Delmar A. Thompson never had a chance to reach 100 years old. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
I began this project on January 1, 2017. It will conclude on September 2, 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of World War 2. During the intervening time, a different fallen serviceman was profiled every day on his 100th birthday. I have decided to round out the project by profiling one of the fallen born between December 7, 1916 and December 31, 1916. This will result in one of the fallen being profiled for every day America was engaged in World War 2. The total will be 1,366 men and women. That's enough for only 13 stars out of the 4,048 on the Freedom Wall of the World War II Memorial.
Delmar was born on December 14, 1916 in Wisconsin. His parents Anton and Hazel were also both born in Wisconsin. His paternal grandparents were from Norway. His father worked as a railroad laborer. Delmar had an older brother and sister and three younger brothers. By 1940 Delmar had completed four years of high school. He lived with his older brother and worked as a truck driver.
He volunteered for the Army Air Corps in October 1940. He was trained as a gunner and was assigned to a B-24 unit in the South Pacific. He was in Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese where he was commended for bravery under fire. His bomber was credited with sinking a Japanese transport and bombing other vessels. He flew 47 combat missions before being sent home in March 1944 for three weeks leave. At the time he was a staff sergeant in the 320th Bombardment Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group (The Jolly Rogers). He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Oak Leaf Clusters.
On May 13, 1944 Delmar was on a test flight from Savanah, Georgia to Cuba. All eleven on board were killed when it crashed near Batista Field.
His grave is at Oak Hill Cemetery in Wild Rose Wisconsin.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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