Staff Sergeant Thompson was a crew member of a B-29A Superfortress Bomber with the 30th Bomber Squadron, 19th Bomber Wing. On 10 June 1952, after completing a bomb run, the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire near a railroad bridge at Kwakson, North Korea, and contact was lost. He was listed as Mission an Action and was presumed dead on 31 December 1953. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

For his leadership and valor, Staff Sergeant Thompson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.