In Memory of Army 2nd Lt.
Clarence “Kelley” Thompson
Renner, South Dakota
Minnehaha County
June 8, 1916 – April 3, 1945
Killed in Action on Luzon Island in the Philippines
Clarence “Kelley” Allen Thompson was born June 8, 1916, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Three years later he and his parents, Ole and Rachel Thompson, moved to a farm two miles north of Renner, South Dakota.
There Clarence attended eight years of school in the Thompson School District. Later he attended dairy school at State College in Brookings, South Dakota. Before entering the service, he worked at the South Dakota Penitentiary Farm.
Clarence “Kelley” was never married; he enjoyed playing cards and liked to cook, especially pie. His sister, Mae, remembers that he was “a very happy-go-lucky person.”
Thompson joined the 147th F.A. and was assigned to Battery B on February 27, 1941. He trained at Fort Ord, California. Clarence was with the 147th when they left Pearl Harbor the day before it was bombed. He was then stationed in Australia, New Guinea, and the Philippines. At some point, Clarence received his commission as a second lieutenant.
Lt. Thompson had been given several chances to go home on furlough, but he always passed them up so that other men with wives and children could go instead.
2nd Lt. Clarence “Kelley” Thompson died of wounds on Luzon Island in the Philippines on April 3, 1945. He was buried in the Armed Forces Cemetery in Luzon, Philippines, Manila #2, Grave #3155. He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star.
Today the Thompson-Schjodt Renner American Legion Post #307 is named after “Kelley” and another Renner man who also lost his life in service to his country.
This entry was respectfully submitted by Larissa Christian, 8th Grade West, Spearfish Middle School, Spearfish, South Dakota, May 11, 1999. Information for this entry was provided by Ms. Mae Gunderson of Baltic, South Dakota, sister of Lt. Thompson.
