KTLA reports a World War II veteran had one of the best days of his life after being honored by chief selects in front of his California home recently. “When he lost my grandmother, the one thing he wanted to do was visit his ship (the USS Missouri) again”. Williams recalled a trip he and his grandfather took to visit the USS Missouri back in 2000. Williams says that’s when he realized how much museum ships mean to veterans.
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I witnessed an 82-year-old man become 18 again and a flood of emotions that affected all that were present tremendously.
When Williams returned home he found out that the USS Iowa, the sister ship of the USS Missouri, needed to be saved.
Working with the USS Iowa, the Navy Chief Selects arranged the surprise visit for the WWII veteran. The museum is just 15 minutes from his grandfather’s house. Thompson, along with other WWII veterans, would go to the ship on Sundays to meet the public and tell stories. “I enjoyed it very much”.
“When they found out that my grandfather was unable to visit the ship lately due to health reasons, they made a decision to take it to him”, his grandson Jonathan Williams wrote in a Facebook post.
After the singing concluded, the chief selects walked one-by-one up to Thompson on the veteran’s porch to shake his hand.
Thompson was seen in the video standing at salute while the group sang.
According to The Pacific Battleship Center – Battleship USS Iowa Facebook page, Thompson said it was one of the “best days of his life”.
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The video has gone viral with more than 4.5 million views.
