Lieutenant Colonel Troy Thompson, Jr. USAF (ret.), was “born in 1921 in Brookhaven, Mississippi and grew up in Cullman, Alabama, where he attended school and later graduated from Birmingham-Southern College. While in college in 1943, he was called to active duty in the US Army Air Corps for training as an Aviation Cadet and, on completion of training, flew in combat against Japan as a Navigator in B- 29s. He served later in the USAF during the occupation of Japan as a Navigator on transport aircraft and then flew in combat in the Korean War in B-26s. He was Resident Auditor of several Air Force Bases before retiring in 1968 as a Lieutenant Colonel. Subsequently, he was employed by the US Civil Service Commission until retirement in 1983.”  Lieutenant Colonel Troy Thompson, Jr. passed away in 2008.  He is the author of Brown Shoe/Black Shoe: Memoirs of Two Air Forces, Two Wars And One Military Occupation.

The MOAA said of Brown Shoe/Black Shoe: Memoirs of Two Air Forces, Two Wars And One Military Occupation, “A narrative of moments memorable to the author as he went from college student to Army basic training; followed by training as a flight Navigator; then training to become a crew member on B29’s and flying B-29 combat missions over Japan in WWII.”