By Caroline Ayers Harnsberger

With each new Veterans Day, we are reminded of the wives, mothers, and children who were left behind to honor their fallen soldiers and continue family life with determination and hard work.

One such was the Thompson family, of Laurel Fork.

In 1944, Elder Doc Thompson (a fourth-generation minister), and his wife, Lillie Bolt Thompson, had already lost their oldest son, Clelon, on the WWII French battlefield when their second son, Dennie Moyer Thompson — the husband of Octavia Stanley Thompson and father of four young children — was drafted.

The numbers of available draftees had decreased in 1944, and the War Department looked among former deferments with had young families to bolster their rolls.

Patriotism ran high in the mountain Baptist families whose elders could name all the Biblical wars as well as provide the names of ancestors who had fought all the way back to the Revolutionary and Indian Wars. Wars were expected and predestined, as many believed. Families rarely protested.

Dennie Moyer Thompson, of the 99th Infantry, was killed on March 17, 1945. He died in the fierce battle to capture the Rhine Railroad Bridge at Remagen as the Allies fought to reach Berlin before the Russians. The battle was later depicted in the Hollywood movie, “The Bridge at Remagen.”

The Americans had sought to be the first to claim and protect the German war machine scientists, who were responsible for the German superiority in weaponry and would later assist with post-war weapon development, including nuclear weapons and rocketry.

By March 1945, Adolf Hitler had already ordered old men and the youngest of the Hitler-Jugend — the youth organization of the Nazi party — into battle. He also had ordered all bridges to be destroyed, but the Wehrmacht Major Krueger held off blowing up the bridge at Remagen as the German 15th Army and private citizens were still escaping across the bridge. The Americans took the bridge after vicious fighting and many casualties, hastening the demise of the Nazis.

In 1948, the remains of Dennie Moyer Thompson were returned from France to Virginia to be buried. Octavia Thompson dressed her four children as befitting the memorial of a fallen hero. Lillie Bolt Thompson did not feel that the casket contained her son, as her heart felt he was still “across the water.”

Following the death of her husband, Octavia Thompson moved to the farm of her parents, William and Sara Nester Stanley, who also owned a mill. There, she soon was taking care of her own farm land, determined to increase the farm acreage for her children — Annie Ruth (Tootsie), Bobby, Butch, and Elsie.

Relatives helped with care of the children. Butch Thompson recalled riding with grandfather’s horse and buggy through the old Hylton home place to the Thompson Carroll County farm in Laurel Fork where he spent much of his early years and summers.

Few mountain folks were not related somehow, either by blood or marriage, to Octavia Thompson and her children. As a school age child, Butch Thompson walked all over Meadows of Dan, selling “Grit” newspapers. He was welcomed into each home, and generally partook of a special treat: a store bought snack saved for the young traveling salesman.

Sgt. T. V. Cox, a local bachelor and WWII Purple Heart recipient, wasted no time pursuing and marrying the widow Octavia Thompson, who was said to be one of the most beautiful women in Patrick County. Three more children were added to their union—Judy, Tommy, and Ricky.
Hard work and determination grew the farm, which became one of the bigger dairy farms in Patrick. All of the boys were up at 4 a.m. to milk the herd of cows. The girls excelled with housekeeping and cooking. Octavia Cox and some of the family also entered the restaurant business in Meadows of Dan, Laurel Fork and Hillsville.

Annie Ruth “Tootsie” Thompson continues to work in the food service unit at Laurel Meadows Nursing home and at the Crooked Oak Restaurant.

The dairy farm remained operational until the federal agricultural buy-out. Tommy Cox, and his wife Diane, now live on the farm.

Only 22 years following the death of his father in war, Butch Thompson felt that he would be drafted to serve in Vietnam. He married his Floyd County sweetheart, Myrtle Pendleton, daughter of Jennings Connor Pendleton and Eva Boyd Pendleton Moles. The couple decided to delay having children as they feared he might not return home.

He arrived in Quan-Loi in the middle of the Tet Offensive. He was assigned to the motor pool in the First Infantry’s “Black Scarf” Unit, which had already lost 60 of its 200 men — mainly due to routine mortar and rocket launchers.

Butch Thompson, soon promoted to an E-5, remembered the stress of his fellow soldiers as they faced “hard to identify” enemies who ran the nighttime guerilla war from underground tunnels using mortars, rockets, and planes provided by Russia and China.

The anti-war protestors at home added to the stress. The soldiers felt that the protests empowered the Russians and Chinese to increase supplies and weaponry.

Butch Thompson, now the historian in the family, recalled that former President, General Dwight Eisenhower told John Kennedy that the U.S. should never enter a ‘ground’ war in Asia.

As Butch Thompson approached the final months of his tour, he learned that Lillie Bolt (Granny) Thompson had died. She had struggled with poor health since the death of her two sons. As she had helped rear Butch Thompson, the Commanding Officer approved his request to return to Patrick for the funeral, with instructions for his release from service since he was near the completion of his tour of duty.

He recalled that before Granny Thompson’s death, she had told some in her family that she was “ready to go on” and that “maybe Butch would be saved by being sent home to her funeral.”

Only one of Dennie Moyer Thompson’s children was old enough to remember him.
Octavia Thompson Cox encouraged her children’s education and knowledge of history, including their father and uncle’s role in WWII. A Roosevelt Democrat, she understood that some knowledge of history is needed in order to make voting decisions at the polls.

Scientists now believe that the trauma of war can be passed on to new generations through DNA and something called “cell memory.” Perhaps hardships helped push Octavia Thompson Cox’s success forward.

Regardless of the reason, she remained the determined, hardworking, regal beauty well into her 90s, still admired by the many mountain friends and relations.

She passed away in 2015. With God’s Grace, she left behind more than 40 descendants, including my son-in-law, who learned from this determination and now honor her memory.