US Army PFC Vernon Clayton Thompson was born in Pensacola, Florida on June 22, 1925, the son of Ernest Wilmer Thompson (1890-1955) and Mary Louise Blackmon (1890-1959). Vernon's father was born and raised in Pensacola and his mother was a native of Eufaula, Barbour County, Alabama. They were married in 1913 and lived the rest of their lives in Pensacola. Ernest would support his family as a conductor, electric streetcar operator, motorman for Gulf Power, a city bus driver, and a carpenter. They lived at 1212 West Belmont Street for about ten years from the mid-1920's and then purchased a house at 1421 North "U" Street beginning around 1940.
Vernon would graduate from Pensacola High School in June 1943 and enlisted in the US Army on October 16, 1943. On November 4th, he was called up for active duty and sent to Camp Blanding, Florida for processing and orientation. He received training under the Army's Specialized Training Program (ASTP) at Ft. Benning, GA. Two months later he was transferred to Company "L" of the 319th Infantry Regiment with the 80th Infantry Division at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina after the ASTP was disbanded. From there he went to Ft. Meade, MD for more training.
His division would set sail on July 4, 1944 aboard the SS Queen Mary and landed three days later in Greenock, Scotland. Transferred to Northwick, England the division began training for the upcoming landing in Normandy. When the time came, they embarked upon their troop transports and crossed the English Channel to land on Utah Beach on August 2, 1944. They would assemble at St. Jores, France before entering combat for the first time on August 8, 1944 at the LeMans bridgehead. The division was known as the "Blue Ridge" division and was now placed under the overall command of General George Patton's 3rd Army.
With Patton, the regiment would race across France destroying any German opposition sent against them. Finally, Patton was halted at the Seille River, not by the Germans but by lack of supplies and fuel just like it was portrayed in the Hollywood movie "Patton." Because of this, the 3rd Army established an "aggressive" defense from September 25th to November 7th west of the Seille River, as they prepared for their next push. It was here in October that Vernon arrived from the states to join his assigned regiment.
On November 17th, the Division was on the left flank of the XII Corps, blocking the enemy's escape routes east of Faulquemont, France. In response, the German commander had left a reinforced company to guard the bridgehead over the Nied Allemande River. However, the Germans withdrew the company leaving the bridge totally unguarded nor intact as well. Vernon's 319th Regiment was one of two that crossed over and took up positions north of the river. Facing them, the Germans had taken a position along the old Maginot Line fortifications that were in a state of disrepair leaving gaps in their defense.
On November 25, 1944, American artillery blasted the enemy positions for about five minutes before all three regiments of the 80th Division attacked in force. By 1300 hours, most of the enemy lines had been captured and 600 prisoners taken. The German commander described the Americans as they calmly advanced "with weapons at the ready and cigarettes dangling from their lips." It was here in the area of Redlach village that Pensacolian Vernon Clayton Thompson was killed in action. He was first reported as missing in action before his family was notified on December 27th that he had been killed.
After the war, his parents contacted the US Army and requested that his remains be brought home to Pensacola. Vernon arrived home on September 7, 1948 and was buried in St. John's Cemetery the following week with full military honors. For those family members wanting more information there is a book by Bill J. Krehbiel called the "The Pride of Willing and Able; A Chronology of Company "L", Third Battalion 319th Infantry, 80th Infantry Division." I've never read this book so I cannot attest to anything contained therein. But this was Vernon's company that he fought and died with.










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