MARYVILLE, Tenn — A Tennessee native who died during World War II will be buried at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent on Friday.
Tech. Sgt. Ross H. Thompson died on Dec. 10, 1942, at age 50. He was a member of the Finance Department, U.S. Army Forces Far East when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in Dec. 1941, the Army said.
Thompson was reported captured with thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members when forces in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese in 1942.
The POWs were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March and held captive at the Cabanatuan POW camp, where more than 2,500 POWs died during the war, the Army said.
Thompson, a native of Maryville, Tennessee, was buried with other deceased prisoners in the Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in a common grave. He was later buried with others as unknowns at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in 1950.
Thompson was accounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency in Nov. 2021 after his remains were identified.
The Army said while interred as an unknown at the Manila American Cemetery, “Thompson's grave was meticulously cared for over the past 70 years by the American Battle Monuments Commission.”
Thompson's graveside service and burial will be Friday, Sept. 30 at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, Washington.
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