Neil Brown Thompson was born on October 24, 1923, in Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware. He was the son of Alexander Thompson Sr. and Isabel C. Brown Thompson. He was married to Phyllis Walker Click Thompson. He joined the U.S. Army at Fort Dix, New Jersey, in June 1943 and completed basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, before attending Armored Force and Arizona Desert Training Center programs under confidential War Department orders. He departed the United States for Scotland and later entered Europe through Utah Beach after crossing the English Channel. He participated in the advance through France, including a brief “quiet” period at Neufchateau, Belgium, and the Meuse River while awaiting new tanks and ammunition. He served in the United States Army with the 740th Tank Battalion in World War II. Known as the “Daredevil Tankers”, the 740th was a separate battalion that fought from Utah Beach all the way to the Baltic Sea in support of various divisions of the US war effort.

On December 16, 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, the battalion encountered heavy fighting and received orders from First Army to engage Kampfgruppe Peiper’s forces as infantry. Thompson was wounded by gunfire and was evacuated at La Gleize and the Ambleve River near Cheneaux, from where the German forces later withdrew on Christmas Eve.

Deeply shaped by his wartime experiences, Thompson dedicated much of his life to honoring those who sacrificed in service to the nation. He served as past president of the Disabled American Veterans Department of Maryland, Chapter #3, and was a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart #570 and the Battle of the Bulge Association Maryland/DC Chapter.
Sgt Thompson died on September 22, 2021, and is now buried in the Maryland Veterans Cemetery-Crownsville, Crownsville, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com