Wirt E. Thompson Jr. served in the U.S. Army Air Forces as a Major with the 317th Troop Carrier Squadron, II Air Company, during World War II. He went missing on December 6, 1945, when the DC-3 aircraft (#43-15821) he piloted went missing after departing from Myitkyina, Burma, on a combat mission to Kunming, China. He is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines. He was awarded the Purple Heart.