OTA William R. Thompson

Born on January 26, 1916, Lieutenant Colonel William R. Thompson was born in the Wiley Avenue section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of a prosperous caterer. His mother died when he was fourteen days old.

Thompson received his B.S. in business administration from Hampton University in Virginia. During his senior year, he became a licensed pilot and entered the service in 1940 as one of the first African American aviation cadets admitted to the U.S. Army Air Corps. These cadets were later known as members of the 99th Squadron of the Tuskegee Airmen.

As part of the 99th Squadron, under the guidance of  then Capt. Benjamin O. Davis; Col Thompson served as a weapons (armament officer) officer with the U.S. Army Air Force 99th Fighter Squadron of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War Two.  He also served as unofficial photographer for the 99th Squadron and parts of his collection now reside in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

During an interview in the summer of  2000 with the History Makers, he discusses his training at Chanute Base, seeing Eleanor Roosevelt fly with a black pilot at Tuskegee, the squadron being shipped to Casablanca and their service in North Africa, Sicily and Italy.