I Lost a Hero Today . . . .

[Indianasmith]

Harry Thompson, aged 97, of Wolfe City, TX died last night at 11 pm.
Harry was my neighbor for 14 years and my friend since 1988. I am going to miss him greatly.
In many ways, Harry was a poster child for "The Greatest Generation." He joined the U.S. Army in the spring of 1941, several months before Pearl Harbor. He served in the 99th Field Artillery Division as a Chief Warrrant Officer, and shipped out to Europe in the summer of 1944. He received his baptism of fire on the first day of the Battle of the Bulge, when his position was overrun by German Panzers in the predawn hours. He fought a losing duel with a tank, armed only with his .45, then was captured towards the end of the day on Dec. 16, 1944. As a POW, he was shipped all over Germany, winding up in Hammelburg, where he and 3,000 other POW's were the targets of a failed rescue attempt launched by Gen. George S Patton in March of 1945. (Hitler had issued an order for all POW's to be executed and all camp personnel to join the Wehrmacht in the desperate fight for Germany's survival. The Camp commandants, knowing the war was lost, disobeyed that order.) Harry was liberated then, but recaptured before the day was over, and then he and the other Hammelburg POW's were marched all the way across Germany towards the Austrian border, one step ahead of the Americans, and being bombed and shelled by our own aircraft and artillery most of the way. Harry survived the ordeal and was liberated in May of 1945, having dropped from 155 pounds to 101 pounds during his six month's as a captive.
Harry returned to Texas, owned a bar in Dallas for many years, and with his loving wife Virginia raised a single daughter named Pam. He moved to Wolfe City when he retired and ran a feed store right next to my church, which is where I met him in the summer of 1988. We became close friends and I helped him write his book, PATTON'S ILL-FATED RAID, which is an excellent account of his experiences in the war. He lost Virginia in 2003, but contined to enjoy life, driving himself around until he was 95. In 1996, Harry made national news when he decided to go skydiving for the first time at the age of 92. Some paratroopers from Fort Hood came up to watch the event, and when Harry landed safely, one of them took the Paratrooper Wings off his uniform and pinned it on Harry's jacket.
Around that same time, Harry discovered the wonderful world of Email. He sent me dozens of Emails every week. Some of them were jokes, some of them were inspirational, some of them were chain letters, many of them were political (Harry did NOT like Obama!), and a few of them were naughty! Harry was the oldest presiding Grand Master of a Masonic Lodge in the world at the age of 93. He enjoyed dancing and going to veteran's reunions. He did a turn as a docent at the National POW museum in Andersonville, Georgia in 2002. In the last couple of years, his health began to fail, and Pam called me this morning to tell me that he died last night. I have been asked to speak at his funeral. I hope I can get through it without choking up - Harry was not just a good friend, he was a hero to me. Not just because of all that he had done, but because, like most members of his generation, to him there was nothing remarkable about his life or his service. His country needed him and he went.


They just don't make them like that anymore.

[cgode]

Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend Indy, he sounds like he was a great guy to sit and talk with as well as a hero from an era that had many. My dad is similar to this gentleman, WWII vet that saw LOTS of action and is very humble about any of his experiences.....they just don't make em this way any more!
My prayers are with you and his family.

[Mud Hawk]

My condolences for the loss of your friend Indy...

[Mojave]

Great story Indy.
Sorry to hear of his passing...

[joshuaream]

If your eulogy captures what you've just written, you'll do a fine job.

[Palmwood]

Thanks for posting this Lewis.

Definitely the greatest generation. I hate to see them go.

[Tbob131]

Lewis I am sorry for your loss, no doubt that the people of that generation were the greatest of all americans. Thanks to all of them for what we have today.

[rmartin]

Sounds like a Gentleman, a Scholar, and a Great American! My condolences to you and his family.

[kirby]

My condolences Indy....he must have been a fine man and lived a very good life.

[Gibby]

Very sad to hear Indy. My heart goes out to you and his family.