DAVID M. THOMPSON, LT, USN
David Thompson '68
Lucky Bag
From the 1968 Lucky Bag:
DAVID MATHEW THOMPSON
Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania
Dave entered the brick factory via Mt. Lebanon (Pa.) H.S., where he was a star quarterback. Being a level-headed, conscientious sort, he adapted surprisingly well to the navy way of doing things. Plebe summer posed no major obstacles, save for a "Ridiculously Early" reveille, and he breezed through "Freshman" year. Youngster year found him playing 150-lb. football, an activity which took up most of his time each succeeding fall. During the fall of 2/c year Dave had this thing going with the 3rd Batt BOOW for more than a few week-ends, but, that crisis, too, passed away. First class year was the culmination of three years hard work for Dave, although he still found time for football, dragging his OAO, and weapons. Moreover, he gained some practical experience as a leader during his tenure as company commander. Aviation summer put Dave's mind on the express track to Pensacola where he'll eventually get his aviator's wings to wear over the Navy-Marine jump wings he already rates.
He was also a member of the 8th Company staff (2nd set).
DAVID MATHEW THOMPSON
Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania
Dave entered the brick factory via Mt. Lebanon (Pa.) H.S., where he was a star quarterback. Being a level-headed, conscientious sort, he adapted surprisingly well to the navy way of doing things. Plebe summer posed no major obstacles, save for a "Ridiculously Early" reveille, and he breezed through "Freshman" year. Youngster year found him playing 150-lb. football, an activity which took up most of his time each succeeding fall. During the fall of 2/c year Dave had this thing going with the 3rd Batt BOOW for more than a few week-ends, but, that crisis, too, passed away. First class year was the culmination of three years hard work for Dave, although he still found time for football, dragging his OAO, and weapons. Moreover, he gained some practical experience as a leader during his tenure as company commander. Aviation summer put Dave's mind on the express track to Pensacola where he'll eventually get his aviator's wings to wear over the Navy-Marine jump wings he already rates.
He was also a member of the 8th Company staff (2nd set).
Loss
David was lost on August 12, 1972 when his F-8J jet crashed on approach to USS Hancock (CVA 19). He was returning from a mission over the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam.
Photographs
This is a cropped picture of Lt. Thompson from a VF-24 squadron photo taken in the summer of 1972.
David in August 1972, from Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
Obituary
From Heroes of the United States Naval Academy:
On August 13, 1972, Lieutenant Thompson was assigned to Fighter Squadron 24 (VF-24) “Fighting Renegades”, Carrier Air Wing 21, USS Hancock (CVA-19), TF 77, 7th Fleet. He was flying a Vought F-8J Crusader BuNo 150336, Side Number 211. Call Sign: Pageboy 211.
Lieutenant Thompson was wingman to the Commanding Officer of VF-24 on a night mission on a flight over the Gulf of Tonkin. Sometime during their return to the ship, Lieutenant Thompson lost his radio. F-8's flew very little at night because their accident rate was so high due to the difficulty of landing on the smaller Essex-class aircraft carriers that deployed them. So in accordance with procedures, the Commanding Officer led Lieutenant Thompson down on his wing to a rendezvous point about 20 miles behind their carrier, Hancock, to prepare for a landing. At about 12 miles and 2000 feet, they were separated by the Hancock's controller for individual final approaches. Shortly after they separated on this very dark and overcast night, Lieutenant Thompson configured his plane for landing with wheels down and his F-8's variable-incidence wing up. The Commanding Officer went ahead and landed, but at about 8 miles behind the carrier, Lieutenant Thompson's F-8 disappeared from the ship's radar scope.
After the search, all they found was a piece of his plane's nose cone which indicated Lieutenant Thompson hit the water slightly nose down with the wings level. It is unlikely on this flight that he encountered any enemy fire and since his radio was out, it is unknown if there was any other electrical failures in the aircraft.
It was eventually surmised that Lieutenant Thompson became somehow distracted or disoriented in the pitch black darkness and gradually flew into the water at about 140 knots. To this day, his plane and remains have never been found and he is officially listed as Missing In Action - Killed In Action - Body Not Recovered.
Lieutenant Thompson was married.
Lieutenant Thompson is remembered on the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall, Panel W1, Line 66.
Lieutenant Thompson is remembered in the Courts of the Missing, Court B, Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Lieutenant Thompson is remembered in Memorial Hall where his name is engraved under the “DONT GIVE UP THE SHIP” flag honoring those alumni killed in action.
He has a memory marker in Hawaii.
Shipmate
From the November 1972 issue of Shipmate in the Class of 1968 column:
[Dick Evert '68] wrote, "We just lost radio contact and that was it." Marty called Ruthie Thompson and she was doing as well as could be expected. She has since sold the house in San Diego and moved back to Pittsburg. Again it saddens us all, and on behalf of the class, let me extend our sincere sympathy to Ruthie and her family.
(The column begins with mention of a "night cat shot;" the deck log of USS Hancock makes clear that David crashed while attempting to recover aboard the ship.)
Remembrances
From Wall of Faces:
The entire extended Ryder / Schell family back in the Philadelphia area will never forget and are honored and humbled by David's service to our country. Although my grandmother Lillian Ryder kept in touch with his mom Gertrude and my own mom his aunts, I was way to young to have known Lt Thompson growing up in Allentown. So we will keep David's memory alive in our families now. We will never forget him and will always visit the memorial when we are in Washington DC. 6/11/15
David was one of my father's students at Mt. Lebanon High School, Pittsburgh, PA. Being very young at the time of his casualty, I do not remember much about David. I do remember his picture in his white Navy uniform. Very impressive.
My father says he was an excellent student and a very good person. This young man meant a lot to my father and I write this so that everyone knows Lt. Thompson is still remembered. DANIELLE ZEEDICK, DMZ123@EROLS.COM, 2/13/99
Memorial Hall Error?
David is listed on the killed in action panel in the front of Memorial Hall. While not an obvious error, inclusion on the panel for crashes like this (incidental to combat flights) has been inconsistent across WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
Related Articles
John Ludwig, III '68 was also in 18th Company.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
