Benjamin F. Parks ‘42 and Daniel Eugene Thompson, Jr. ‘42, each officers in the UGA ROTC Infantry Regiment were killed in action in World War II. Parks and Thompson were outstanding students and soldiers – two heroes of UGA’s Greatest Generation.
Born in Pinehurst, Dooly County, Ga., Thompson’s family was among the earliest settlers in Dooly County. Gene attended public schoos and was a member of the First Methodist Church.
Following high school he attended North Georgia Junior College, where he received a degree in 1941 and entered the University of Georgia. He was an officer in the University’s ROTC Infantry Regiment and graduated with a B.B.A. degree in December 1942. He entered the U.S. Army in January 1943.
Thompson graduated from Officer’s Candidate School at Fort Benning in April 1943 and trained at Fort Jackson, S.C. He was assigned to the 88th Division and sent to northern Africa in December 1943. He entered combat in southern Italy in May 1944 and participated in the liberation of Rome on June 5, 1944. On July 11 he was wounded at Volterra, Italy and subsequently spent four months convalescing. He rejoined his company in the Apennine Mountains of northern Italy in late November of that year.
On April 15, the 88th Division broke through the German defense lines at Furcoli and Monterumi and initiated a rapid assault on the retreating German units, driving them back toward the Brenner Pass between Italy and Austria. Thompson was killed on April 22, 1945 – just seven days before the unconditional surrender of all German forces in Italy. His body was returned to Pinehurst, Ga. in November 1948 where he is buried in the local cemetery.
Thompson never knew that his good friend Ben Parks had been killed. Parks had been listed as MIA from December 24, 1944 until late April 1945 when his family received official word that he had been killed. During this time, Thompson expressed concern for Ben’s welfare in nearly every letter that he wrote to his parents. He encouraged his family not to give up hope. In his letter dated April 15, 1945, he wrote, “Still no news from Ben. I hope we hear good news soon. It is awful waiting.”
Thompson’s parents were notified that their son had been killed on May 3, 1945. On May 4, Janice Parks wrote the following letter:
Dear Mr. & Mrs. Thompson,
I know I haven’t been introduced to you but nevertheless I feel as if I know you. I am Janice, Ben’s wife, and I have heard so much about Bud and his family.
I have been so sad about the message about Ben that I did not think it was possible for me to feel any worse. But tonight when we got the message about Bud, my heart was broken all over again. It just seemed that on top of Ben [the news of Bud's death] was too much to bear. Of course, I had never met Bud but after hearing Ben and all of his family talk about Bud, I was certainly looking forward to a first hand meeting. From everything they said, I am sure that he must have been a fine person. I know Ben loved him just like a brother and since they were such good friends, I know that Bud must have been as wonderful as Ben was.
I know exactly how you are feeling tonight because I feel the same way. We wonder why our boys had to be taken …. My greatest consolation has been in the fact that Ben was ready to go and that I did all I could before he went to make him happy. It is hard to be thankful for anything right now but we can be glad for them that they did not suffer and that now they are out of this sad world.
I do hope that I may meet you sometimes. Remember that we are sharing your grief with you.
Love,
Janice Parks
