PAUL V. THOMPSON, LCDR, USN

Paul Thompson '40

Date of birth: November 20, 1916

Date of death: June 29, 1945

Age: 28

Lucky Bag

From the 1940 Lucky Bag:

PAUL VANCE THOMPSON

San Francisco, California

Tommy

From the shores of the broad Pacific, near our fleet base, with a heritage reaching back to grizzled British sea-captains, Tommy reached us determined to become a hairy-chested, deep-lungedman-of-war'sman. Tommy is acclaimed by all as the advisor on Bull, and by more than one as counsellor on heart problems. He changes with the tide, a rugged hombre or a polished gentleman. Both a savoir and a striper, his only crime is his continual flow of letters — from whom? — let it suffice to say his love life is well covered in the newspapers. With a keen interest in all things naval, he offers to the Navy — a MAN.

Football 40, 4; Ring Committee, Press Detail; Boat Club; 3 Stripes.

PAUL VANCE THOMPSON

San Francisco, California

Tommy

From the shores of the broad Pacific, near our fleet base, with a heritage reaching back to grizzled British sea-captains, Tommy reached us determined to become a hairy-chested, deep-lungedman-of-war'sman. Tommy is acclaimed by all as the advisor on Bull, and by more than one as counsellor on heart problems. He changes with the tide, a rugged hombre or a polished gentleman. Both a savoir and a striper, his only crime is his continual flow of letters — from whom? — let it suffice to say his love life is well covered in the newspapers. With a keen interest in all things naval, he offers to the Navy — a MAN.

Football 40, 4; Ring Committee, Press Detail; Boat Club; 3 Stripes.

Loss

Paul was lost on June 29, 1945 when the F6F Hellcat he was piloting crashed at Naval Auxiliary Air Station, Upon Point, Hawaii during night carrier landing practice. He was the commanding officer of Air Group (CAG) 26 and Fighting Squadron (VF) 26.

Via the California Digital Newspaper Collection, the Coronado Eagle and Journal of July 19, 1945:

Commander Thompson Killed in Pacific
Mrs. Paul V. Thompson has just received word that her husband, Lt. Comdr. Paul V. Thompson, USN, was killed in a plane crash June 29. Lieutenant Commander Thompson, who was in the Class of 1940 at the Naval Academy, was an air group commander in the Pacific war zone. In addition to his wife who lives at 681 Margarita, he is survived by a son, Paul, Jr.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Paul graduated from Galileo H.S. in 1934 as salutatorian: football, Block “G” social organization, Principal’s Cabinet, and president of the Service Club.
Paul became a lieutenant on October 1, 1942. In January 1944, he was on the USS Altamaha. He became a commanding officer on January 17, 1945, and in March went to NAS Pasco. On June 13, VF-26 was on the USS Antietam heading to Pearl Harbor, and it was in Hilo on June 20. On July 1, H. F. Thompson reported Paul’s death at the Naval Aux Air Station Upolu Point, Hawaii.
He was survived by his wife Frances Jane, and son Paul, Jr. His mother was Ruth, sister was Lois. His father Claude died on November 5, 1929, in Burlingame. He was past master of Burlingame Lodge No. 400, Masons. He was involved in auto accident where his car went off 150-foot cliff near Half Moon Bay while passing a bus.

Paul's sister, Lois, was a WAVE stationed in Honolulu since May 1945, the month before his death. She requested a transfer back to San Francisco to tend to her widowed mother, who had "suffered a nervous collapse".

Paul assumed command of Fighting Squadron (VF) 26 on January 16, 1945, a few days after its creation. In February that squadron was training on the west coast of the United States. This training continued in March, April, and May. In June the squadron embarked a ship for transport to Hawaii, arriving on the 20th.

His wife was listed as next of kin.

Paul is remembered at the Courts of the Missing in Hawaii.

Photographs

From his high school yearbook
From the Lucky Bag

Distinguished Flying Cross

From Hall of Valor:

(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Lieutenant Commander Paul V. Thompson (NSN: 0-85345), United States Navy, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight during World War II.
General Orders: American Battle Monuments Commission
Action Date: World War II
Rank: Lieutenant Commander

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.