lest we forget

THOMPSON, WAYLAND KENT

Rank / Branch:

SPECIALIST 5, U.S. ARMY

Date Of Birth:

1949-02-24

Country Of Loss:

SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

NON-HOSTILE HELICOPTER CRASH

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:

GROUND

Other:

NOT MARRIED

Unit:

18th ENGINEER BRIGADE

Date Of Loss:

1967-10-16

Loss Coordinates:

QUANG NGAI

Catagory:

BODY RETURNED

Awards & Decorations:

SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

THOMPSON, WAYLAND KENT, PRIVATE FIRST CLASS, U.S. ARMY, MONAHANS, WARD COUNTY, TEXAS

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

BRONZE STAR, PURPLE HEART, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL

BIOGRAPHY

Kent Thompson was born Feb. 24, 1949, in Hobbs, NM to the union of Dorothy Anderson and Norman G. Thompson. He had an older sister, and two younger sisters and three younger brothers. He attended school in Monahans from first grade through graduation from high school. The family moved to Odessa for a short while and Kent attended Permian High school, but then returned to Monahans. He was active in Boy Scouts, played football and was a Golden Gloves boxer. He was the oldest of four boys and three girls, he enlisted and volunteered to serve in Vietnam after dropping out of Monahans High School. He was 17 when he enlisted.
Kent completed basic training and AIT training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri which is the stateside home of Army Construction. He then went to Panama for six weeks for jungle training and then to Vietnam. Thompson was assigned to the 137th Engineer Combat Co. He was killed Oct. 16, 1967, when a convoy of construction vehicles were returning to their night CP (Command Post). Kent was riding in a bucket loader driven by another soldier when a command detonated claymore went off and killed Kent and the driver. Four dump trucks. an asphalt distributor and the bucket loader carrying Kent were put out of service. Kent had been in Vietnam seven weeks.
His mother, Dorothy Thompson of Monahans, recalls that Kent always enjoyed helping others. She said he always admired Woody Guthrie's music and his favorite was ˜ This Land is Your Land', which concludes with the lyric "as the fog was lifting, a voice was sounding, this land was made for you and me."
He was buried in the Monahans City Cemetery with full military honors. He was survived by his parents, his sister Kristen Eubank of Odessa, his other sisters, Norma and Kathleen of the home. Also his brothers Mack, Thomas Leslie and Patrick of the home. His sister Norman Gale passed away in Odessa in 1973 at age 24, His father passed in 2000 and his mother in 2013. His sister Kristen May passed away in 2005.