Harry Leonard Thompson

Rank: Private First Class, U.S. Army

Serial: 32240950

Unit: 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division

Entered service from: New Jersey

Died: January 23, 1945

Burial: Harleigh Cemetery, Haddon Avenue, Camden, NJ

Awards: Purple Heart

Private Harry Leonard Thompson was born in New Jersey in 1917 to Harry and Viola Thompson. By 1930 the family had purchased a home at 205 Princeton Avenue in Audubon NJ. Harry L. Thompson attended Audubon High School. He was living at 22 Atlantic Avenue in the Watsontown neighborhood in the borough of Clementon, when inducted into the Army on February 23, 1942.

After basic training he was assigned to the 118th Infantry Regiment. He went overseas with that unit in 1942, which provided security for Iceland from August of 1942 through October 29, 1943. The 118th was then sent to Northern Ireland and England. Private Thompson was re-assigned to the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division at some point in 1944, most likely as an infantry replacement.

Private Thompson was killed in action while serving with the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division in Luxembourg, on January 23, 1945 near the Bettendorf along the Our River.

Harry Thompson was survived by his wife Dorothy, and a two-and-a-half year old son that he never saw, Harry L. Thompson Jr. He was also survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Thompson of 205 Princeton Avenue in Audubon NJ. He is memorialized on the war memorials in Audubon and Clementon.

Harry Thompson was brought home in the spring of 1949. He was buried at Harleigh Cemetery in Camden NJ on April 13, 1949.