Richard G. Thomson

RICHARD G. THOMSON

RICHARD G. THOMSON, Captain USN (Ret.), 76, died of cancer May 13, 2003. Survived by his loving wife of 20 years Mary, preceded in death by Dorothy, mother of his three children; James Thomson, Doug Thomson and Carolyn Hackett; four step-children; Louise Baldwin, Bernadette Prior-Gaudette, Marie Prior and Thomas Prior and seven grandchildren; Dustin, Channel, Sloan, Justin, Claire, Angela and Brooks.

Enlisting in the navy, designated a Naval Aviator as a Midshipman in 1948, and commissioned as an Ensign in 1949, Captain Thomson served in many important assignments afloat and ashore. His tours in the aviation community were varied and challenging, which culminated at sea as Commanding officer, Fighter Squadron Seventy-Four flying the high performance F4B aircraft, the Navy's most advanced fighter at that time. During his tour in the Navy, he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree, graduating with distinction from Stanford University and a Masters of Science in Engineering from the Navy Postgraduate School in California.

Captain Thomson's duty at the time of retirement, June 30, 1973, was as the Program Manager, Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (LAMPS), Office of the Program Coordinator for Surface Aviation Integration. For his exceptional professional competence and technical skill in the management of this top priority Navy program, he was awarded the Legion of Merit. His decorations included the Air Medal with Two Gold Stars, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal with Combat "V", Navy Unit Commendation Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with 1 Bronze Star, National Defense Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Korean Service Medal, Navy Occupation Medal (Asian Clasp), World War II Victory Medal, United Nations Service Medal, China Service Medal, and the Korean Presidential Unit Citation.

Following retirement from the Navy, Richard Thomson was employed by APJ, Inc, supporting the Navy in the successful pursuit of the Navy's LAMPS Program and then by Boeing-Vertol during the development of the V-22 Osprey Program.

Service will be conducted at The Old Chapel at Fort Myer at 1 p.m. the afternoon of July 9, 2003, followed by Military Honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial donations be made to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society where Richard Thomson volunteered for four years or Hospice of Washington, D.C.