In addition to his parents and younger brother linked below, Robert Thompson also had 2 younger sisters. The older sister was Cleo Evelyn Thompson, b. Sep 13, 1926 in Judith Basin Co., Montana; d. Jun 1986 in Valdez, Alaska as Cleo Lee, the wife of James W "Bill" Lee. The younger sister was Jeanne Thompson, b. about 1939.
Robert Thompson died in an accident while skiing in the land he loved, Alaska.
- - - - -
On June 6, 1942, Japanese forces landed on Kiska Island, an island in the string of many Aleutian Islands that run for 1100 miles west from Alaska. The next day they landed on Attu Island, the westernmost US island, capturing 47 Americans, 45 of whom were native Aleuts. 3 of the Aleuts were killed in the invasion of their island, while the rest were taken to Japan as prisoners of war. There were also 2 non-native US Dept of the Interior employees on the island, Charles Foster Jones and his wife Etta, who worked as teachers in the small school. Possibly because he refused to repair the amateur radio on the island, Charles Jones was killed, and his wife spent the war in Japan as a POW.
When the US military learned of the Japanese presence in the Aleutians, planning started to re-take the islands.
CPT Robert H Thompson was the first World War II Commanding Officer of the 1st Combat Intelligence Platoon (Provisional), also known as the Alaska(n) Scouts, but better known as Castner's Cutthroats. He was handpicked, as were the rest of the 65 men in the platoon, by COL Lawrence V Castner due to their survival skills and ability to live off the land with minimal (or no) re-supply. COL Castner was the Intel Officer for MG Simon B Buckner's Alaska Defense Command in late 1941 when the unit was formed, and MAJ William J Verbeck was his right-hand man. The platoon's mission was scouting, reconnaissance and intelligence gathering on Japanese military activities in the Aleutian Islands, which stretch over 1,000 miles west from mainland Alaska. By August of 1943 the Aleutian Islands were all back under U.S. control, and the unit was deactivated in 1946.
Other members were:
LT Earl C Acuff, the units Executive Officer and later its Commanding Officer when CPT Thompson retired due to injuries;
Alfred A Brattain,
William "Billy" Buck,
SGT Edgar M "Ed" Walker,
Theron G Anderson,
SGT George R Gray,
PVT Simeon P "Aleut Pete" Pletnikoff,
PVT Willis J "Bad Whiskey Red" Cruden (KIA on Attu 1943),
SGT Clyde Petersen,
CPL Al Levorson,
Larry "Diamond Jim" Beloff,
Buck Delkette,
(I am looking for information on any member of this unit.)
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2005/11/remembering_the_alaska_scouts.html
https://www.thespectrum.com/story/life/family/2015/02/08/camping-castners-cutthroats/23084775/
http://24thida.com/stories/images02/alaskas_cutthroats_Samantha_Seiple.pdf
https://www.historynet.com/alaskas-cutthroats.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castner's_Cutthroats
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBYLHqSOqZg
http://www.alaskaweb.org/military/ww2/castners.html
Robert Thompson died in an accident while skiing in the land he loved, Alaska.
- - - - -
On June 6, 1942, Japanese forces landed on Kiska Island, an island in the string of many Aleutian Islands that run for 1100 miles west from Alaska. The next day they landed on Attu Island, the westernmost US island, capturing 47 Americans, 45 of whom were native Aleuts. 3 of the Aleuts were killed in the invasion of their island, while the rest were taken to Japan as prisoners of war. There were also 2 non-native US Dept of the Interior employees on the island, Charles Foster Jones and his wife Etta, who worked as teachers in the small school. Possibly because he refused to repair the amateur radio on the island, Charles Jones was killed, and his wife spent the war in Japan as a POW.
When the US military learned of the Japanese presence in the Aleutians, planning started to re-take the islands.
CPT Robert H Thompson was the first World War II Commanding Officer of the 1st Combat Intelligence Platoon (Provisional), also known as the Alaska(n) Scouts, but better known as Castner's Cutthroats. He was handpicked, as were the rest of the 65 men in the platoon, by COL Lawrence V Castner due to their survival skills and ability to live off the land with minimal (or no) re-supply. COL Castner was the Intel Officer for MG Simon B Buckner's Alaska Defense Command in late 1941 when the unit was formed, and MAJ William J Verbeck was his right-hand man. The platoon's mission was scouting, reconnaissance and intelligence gathering on Japanese military activities in the Aleutian Islands, which stretch over 1,000 miles west from mainland Alaska. By August of 1943 the Aleutian Islands were all back under U.S. control, and the unit was deactivated in 1946.
Other members were:
LT Earl C Acuff, the units Executive Officer and later its Commanding Officer when CPT Thompson retired due to injuries;
Alfred A Brattain,
William "Billy" Buck,
SGT Edgar M "Ed" Walker,
Theron G Anderson,
SGT George R Gray,
PVT Simeon P "Aleut Pete" Pletnikoff,
PVT Willis J "Bad Whiskey Red" Cruden (KIA on Attu 1943),
SGT Clyde Petersen,
CPL Al Levorson,
Larry "Diamond Jim" Beloff,
Buck Delkette,
(I am looking for information on any member of this unit.)
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2005/11/remembering_the_alaska_scouts.html
https://www.thespectrum.com/story/life/family/2015/02/08/camping-castners-cutthroats/23084775/
http://24thida.com/stories/images02/alaskas_cutthroats_Samantha_Seiple.pdf
https://www.historynet.com/alaskas-cutthroats.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castner's_Cutthroats
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBYLHqSOqZg
http://www.alaskaweb.org/military/ww2/castners.html
In addition to his parents and younger brother linked below, Robert Thompson also had 2 younger sisters. The older sister was Cleo Evelyn Thompson, b. Sep 13, 1926 in Judith Basin Co., Montana; d. Jun 1986 in Valdez, Alaska as Cleo Lee, the wife of James W "Bill" Lee. The younger sister was Jeanne Thompson, b. about 1939.
Robert Thompson died in an accident while skiing in the land he loved, Alaska.
- - - - -
On June 6, 1942, Japanese forces landed on Kiska Island, an island in the string of many Aleutian Islands that run for 1100 miles west from Alaska. The next day they landed on Attu Island, the westernmost US island, capturing 47 Americans, 45 of whom were native Aleuts. 3 of the Aleuts were killed in the invasion of their island, while the rest were taken to Japan as prisoners of war. There were also 2 non-native US Dept of the Interior employees on the island, Charles Foster Jones and his wife Etta, who worked as teachers in the small school. Possibly because he refused to repair the amateur radio on the island, Charles Jones was killed, and his wife spent the war in Japan as a POW.
When the US military learned of the Japanese presence in the Aleutians, planning started to re-take the islands.
CPT Robert H Thompson was the first World War II Commanding Officer of the 1st Combat Intelligence Platoon (Provisional), also known as the Alaska(n) Scouts, but better known as Castner's Cutthroats. He was handpicked, as were the rest of the 65 men in the platoon, by COL Lawrence V Castner due to their survival skills and ability to live off the land with minimal (or no) re-supply. COL Castner was the Intel Officer for MG Simon B Buckner's Alaska Defense Command in late 1941 when the unit was formed, and MAJ William J Verbeck was his right-hand man. The platoon's mission was scouting, reconnaissance and intelligence gathering on Japanese military activities in the Aleutian Islands, which stretch over 1,000 miles west from mainland Alaska. By August of 1943 the Aleutian Islands were all back under U.S. control, and the unit was deactivated in 1946.
Other members were:
LT Earl C Acuff, the units Executive Officer and later its Commanding Officer when CPT Thompson retired due to injuries;
Alfred A Brattain,
William "Billy" Buck,
SGT Edgar M "Ed" Walker,
Theron G Anderson,
SGT George R Gray,
PVT Simeon P "Aleut Pete" Pletnikoff,
PVT Willis J "Bad Whiskey Red" Cruden (KIA on Attu 1943),
SGT Clyde Petersen,
CPL Al Levorson,
Larry "Diamond Jim" Beloff,
Buck Delkette,
(I am looking for information on any member of this unit.)
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2005/11/remembering_the_alaska_scouts.html
https://www.thespectrum.com/story/life/family/2015/02/08/camping-castners-cutthroats/23084775/
http://24thida.com/stories/images02/alaskas_cutthroats_Samantha_Seiple.pdf
https://www.historynet.com/alaskas-cutthroats.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castner's_Cutthroats
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBYLHqSOqZg
http://www.alaskaweb.org/military/ww2/castners.html
Robert Thompson died in an accident while skiing in the land he loved, Alaska.
- - - - -
On June 6, 1942, Japanese forces landed on Kiska Island, an island in the string of many Aleutian Islands that run for 1100 miles west from Alaska. The next day they landed on Attu Island, the westernmost US island, capturing 47 Americans, 45 of whom were native Aleuts. 3 of the Aleuts were killed in the invasion of their island, while the rest were taken to Japan as prisoners of war. There were also 2 non-native US Dept of the Interior employees on the island, Charles Foster Jones and his wife Etta, who worked as teachers in the small school. Possibly because he refused to repair the amateur radio on the island, Charles Jones was killed, and his wife spent the war in Japan as a POW.
When the US military learned of the Japanese presence in the Aleutians, planning started to re-take the islands.
CPT Robert H Thompson was the first World War II Commanding Officer of the 1st Combat Intelligence Platoon (Provisional), also known as the Alaska(n) Scouts, but better known as Castner's Cutthroats. He was handpicked, as were the rest of the 65 men in the platoon, by COL Lawrence V Castner due to their survival skills and ability to live off the land with minimal (or no) re-supply. COL Castner was the Intel Officer for MG Simon B Buckner's Alaska Defense Command in late 1941 when the unit was formed, and MAJ William J Verbeck was his right-hand man. The platoon's mission was scouting, reconnaissance and intelligence gathering on Japanese military activities in the Aleutian Islands, which stretch over 1,000 miles west from mainland Alaska. By August of 1943 the Aleutian Islands were all back under U.S. control, and the unit was deactivated in 1946.
Other members were:
LT Earl C Acuff, the units Executive Officer and later its Commanding Officer when CPT Thompson retired due to injuries;
Alfred A Brattain,
William "Billy" Buck,
SGT Edgar M "Ed" Walker,
Theron G Anderson,
SGT George R Gray,
PVT Simeon P "Aleut Pete" Pletnikoff,
PVT Willis J "Bad Whiskey Red" Cruden (KIA on Attu 1943),
SGT Clyde Petersen,
CPL Al Levorson,
Larry "Diamond Jim" Beloff,
Buck Delkette,
(I am looking for information on any member of this unit.)
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2005/11/remembering_the_alaska_scouts.html
https://www.thespectrum.com/story/life/family/2015/02/08/camping-castners-cutthroats/23084775/
http://24thida.com/stories/images02/alaskas_cutthroats_Samantha_Seiple.pdf
https://www.historynet.com/alaskas-cutthroats.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castner's_Cutthroats
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBYLHqSOqZg
http://www.alaskaweb.org/military/ww2/castners.html
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