Every so often I see a name ‘from the past’ listed in one of the various publications I receive – the name of someone who has flown his “Final Flight West.” The other day I saw the name: Colonel Hadley N. Thompson.
I met Colonel Thompson at Randolph Field, TX in late April 1970. He was the Commander of 3517 Student Squadron.
When Col. Thompson walked into a room, he didn’t ‘walk’ – he ‘swaggered!’ If you have ever seen a John Wayne movie, you have seen how Col. Thompson walked. When I first saw him, I actually looked to see if he had a 6-shooter strapped on his hip! And to go with his ‘swagger,’ he had this deep booming voice.
Col. Thompson was assigned to the T-37 squadron for flying, and I had one flight with him. On 21 Sept. 1970 we flew a contact ride for 0.8 hours. The ride was graded ‘Incomplete,’ so I am thinking we had a mechanical problem of some kind or another… But be that as it may, I do remember enjoying the flight I had with him.
In his Obit I saw where he had been a teacher at Judson High School in Converse, TX. Converse sits just under the Randolph T-37 traffic pattern! I wish I had known this when I was stationed at Randolph. I would have loved to seen him…
GBU, Colonel Thompson.
Good morning Bob.
It is good to read about the guys from 71-07 in Texas. I remember Tom Widerquist as a very nice guy, his ancesters came from Sweden, he told me.
I flew an out and back in the Tweet with Col. Hadley Thompson, to some place in north Texas. The return flight was night VFR, and I was “ slightly uncertain of position” from the moment we got wheels up. Col. Thompson did`nt say much, until he ”wondered” about that huge dark area with few lights, and no towns, we were flying into. I did`nt have a clue, until he camly asked,”how about the gulf of Mexico.”- We climbed and tuned a few TACAN`s, and finally landed at Randolph, with plenty of fuel for at least another five minutes. I was not happy with myself and the situation, until we entered the flightroom for debriefing, and Col. Thompson with a smile announced “the crazy Dane was trying to take me to Cuba”! – so yes Bob, I agree, his style was more John Wayne than IP.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
From Chris.
I would like to contact the gentleman who wrote this about Col. Had Thompson. If you would please email me.
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