HomeMy WebLinkAboutFoster L. Thompson, Brazos Valley Heroes
The pilot credited with shooting down the last Japanese
Zero in WWII is Foster L. Thompson of Leona, Texas. Thompson
was a Marine fighter pilot flying the Corsair F4U over Okinawa
when the last Zero was shot down.
"I was attending the University of Texas and in my second
year when a friend of mine and 1 went to Houston in 1942 to
enlist in the Army Air Corps, but they put us in the Naval Cadet
program. I eventually ended up in Pensacola, Florida, where I
received my wings in December 1943. If you were in the top
10 percent of your class, you could get into the Marines. That
is how I became a Marine pilot.
"The Corsair was a hard plane to fly because of its 2,000-
horsepower engine. In the beginning, we averaged two deaths
per training run. I was eventually sent to Cherry Point, N.C., to
help train twin-engine pilots to fly the Corsair. It was there that I
was asked to train the movie star, Tyrone Power. He was scared
stiff of the COrsair and told me if he had to fly it he would turn in
his wings. I told my C.O. that if we didn't transfer him to some
other plane, he would probably kill one of America's most
famous movie stars. He was transferred to DC 3's.
"I had the opportunity to fly a plane to Fort Worth and meet
my parents and girlfriend, later my wife, for dinner. Tyrone had
flown in to take me back. When the waitress brought the drinks
and recognized Tyrone Power, she dropped the whole tray.
"I was shipped out of Miramar in California for the Pacific.
All the crates on our ship had a cactus stenciled on them. I
called my older brother Ray, who was also a pilot and had
been in longer than I, asking what the cactus signified. He told
me that was the code for Guadalcanal. That's where I headed
for, joining the 222nd Marine Fighter Squadron, or the Flying
Deuces, as we were called.
"We were stationed on Green Island, SAd my first mission
was to try to locate one of our pilots, Mike' Zanger, who had
been downed over Rabul. We later found out that he escaped
from Japanese prison one month before the war was over, was
recaptured and was beheaded. While on Green Island, Charles
Undberg flew in to demonstrate and teach bombing tactics. He
flew several missions with us while he was there."
''When I left for the Pacific, my brother Ray went home.
While there, he told my parents that they might have seen the
last of 'little brother' because he said the plane I was flying
was a monster. But it was Ray who didn't come back. While
at Green Island, I got word he had been killed in a training
accident. At the time of his death, he had flown 96 combat mis-
sions and had been awarded the Silver Star. He was without
question the best pilot in our family."
Thompson and his squadron flew missions all over the
South Pacific, protecting the naval ships at sea and in support
of the ground troops on the islands. This included flying cover
for Gen. Dooglas MacArthur on his return to the Philippines.
"o'ne of my best buddies was a pilot named 'Nails' Boller,
whose father was a minister. But Nails really loved to play
poker and was very good at it...1 went with him one night to a
naval officers' club on Green Island, where he got into a card
game with four naval officers. One of the naval officers was a
beady-eyed .\l.~~ ~I)o kept looking at me, I guess, thinking I
was giving N!lils signals. I wasn't and he and the other guys
lost around' $1 ,000 to Nails. The beady-eyed guy would later
become President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon.
Nails mailed ttle money to his parents hoping they wouldn't
think he was playing poker. I told him, 'Where else would you
get that kind of money? They sure don't pay us that much.'
Nails and I survived that poker game and a lot of close calls
and missions together."
Foster L. Thompson's story will be continued next week. His
name can be found on the Brazos Valley Veteran's Memorial.
For more information, to make a contrib.ution, or if you know
a World War II veteran whose story needs to be told, contact
the BVM at www.veterans-n'iemorial.org or Bill Youngkin at
(979) 260-7030.
The .Eagle
"When I left the U.S. for the South Pacific, I left with four other
guys headed to the same unit. I'm glad to say that all four of us
also made it home together. My best buddy was 'Nails' Boller and
my call sign was 'Topaz' Thoinpson. One of the most memorable
missions I had with Nails was also my longest of the war.
"Nails and I were flying escort for a DC3 taking supplies to a
native Philippine unit that was commanded by some American
officers who had escaped from the Japanese when Corrigidor fell.
On the way in, I took a shell through my wing. It left a pretty good
hole. We landed behind the DC3 but the runway was only 2,300
feet long. Nails tore up his plane pretty good on the landing, cutting
his head and banging up his leg.
''The local native army tumed out for us and when we started
walking up to them, their band struck up the Marine Corp Hymn.
You should have seen old Nails. Instead of limping along, he
straightened up and marched up to the commander like a good
parade-ground Marine. We marched right behind him.
"Nails' plane was totaled so he flew out on the DC3, but my
. plane couldn't fly until the hole in the wing was repaired. I really
admired what those folks had accomplished. With very little, they
had managed to hold off the Japanese until we could get back to
help them. Their 'staff' vehicle was an old 1934 Chevrolet with its
fuel tank strapped to the roof. The fuel pump had broken a long
time ago. .
"When I flew out, I spotted some Japanese soldiers approach-
ing their area. I strafed them pretty good because they had no idea
that I was coming until it was too late. It was the least I could do for
those guys who had been fighting for SO long and so hard without
much assistance. My hat was truly off to them. .
"The best I ever felt about a mission occurred during the battle
for Okinawa. There were American troops on the ground that were
trying to get through a pass who were pinned down and getting
chewed up by a Japanese artillery position. There were tanks and
trucks backed up trying to get through as well.
"I checked in with the commander on the ground and got a
good location of the Japanese position. At 10,000 feet, when your
ta1get passes under your left wing, you go into a steep dive pull-
ing out at 1 ,500 feet above the target. When your pull your nose
through the taIget, you drop your bomb at the same time. It hit right
in the middle of that Japanese artillery position and took it out. That
did me more good than anything. I knew I helped out that day."
Thompson continued to fly support for the troops on the
ground. Organized resistance in Okinawa supposedly ended on
June 31,1945 but on June 22 Thompson and his wingman, Bob
"Grim Reaper" Rause, were ordered to "get in the air" because
Japanese Zeros were heading out over the bay where the Navy
ships were located.
"My wingman managed to get behind one of the Zeros and took
him out. My Zero ventured out over the Pacific. I carne in behind
from 7 o'clock and I had lots of parts flying off it. I thought I was
going to overrun it but as I went by, I could see the pilot was dead.
He and the plane were soon headed down. That, I was told later on,
was the last Zero shot down in the war.
"Flying into Japan was tough because they had some real good
anti-aircraft. When [president] Truman dropped the bomb, he saved
so many lives - theirs and ours."
After the war ended, Thompson carne home to the family farm
and ranch at Leona until he was called back into the service for
the Korean War.
"During the Korean War, I trained pilots. One guy I worked with
as a fellow instructor and who lived next door to my wife and me
was Ted Williams, the baseball player. Hewas a good pilot and a
good guy."
After the Korean War, Thompson came home for good. With the
help of a business partner, he established the Leona oilfield, which
still produces today. He has served for 20 years as a member of the
Trinity River Authority and the Brazos Valley Development Council
for 12 years, serving a term as president. .
"This summer I was invited to go to Connecticut for 'Corsairs
over Connecticut.' Some of Pappy Boyington's boys were there.
We did interviews, had our pictUres taken and signed autographs
for all the people for four days. I never thought anyone would ever
want my autograph on anything except a check."
They do if you are the man who shot down the last Japanese
Zero of World War II.
Foster L. Thompson's name can be found on the Brazos Valley
Veteran's Memorial. For more information, to make a contribution,
or if you know a World War II Veteran whose story needs to be told,
contact the BWM at www.veteransmemorial.org or Bill Youngkin
at (979) 260-7030.
The EaP-le