Joseph Chester Thompson was born 26 April 1926 in Virginia to Joseph Thompson and Fannie Bowling Thompson. The moment he turned 18 on 26 May 1944 and could legally do so he enlisted in the Marine Corps to fight for his country. After his basic training he left by ship to go to the Battle of Iwo Jima in the South Pacific. Iwo Jima was declared secure March 26, 1945. Joe was not wounded in the body as a result of this battle, but in the mind. He came home suffering from what we now know as PTSD syndrome. He spoke of wandering the streets of Washington in a daze until a Doctor helped him by prescribing the new drug Valium which he continued to take daily . He said that he never spoke about his experiences for years, because he thought people would think they were "wild stories". He began working for the Southern Railway as an bookkeeper and transferred to Roanoke in the early 1980's to work for Norfolk Southern before retiring in 1987. He then worked as a museum security guard at the Center in the Square in Roanoke and counted the church offering faithfully for some 30 years for his beloved church, Colonial Presbyterian on Popular Drive in Southwest Roanoke. He also sang in the church choir for many years. He spent the last four years of his life at the Virginia Veterans Care Center where he died. Joe was a kind, friendly and charitable man. One of his interests in life was his flowering garden which was a wonder to behold. He also loved American history-especially military history. His home was filled with Civil War Military images. He was very proud of having been a Marine. He had been present at the dedication of that famous Iwo Jima Monument in Washington, D.C. in 1954. Another of his stories was about attending the inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933 in Washington as a small child.
A member of Colonial Presbyterian Church in tribute to his long years of service to his church purchased a Columbarium space , so that he will remain with his church. Joe never married and his brother and two sisters: Margaret Thompson Byrd, May Thompson Carter and Floyd Thompson predeceased him.