John Taliaferro Thompson - West Point NY - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

He is buried in the United States Military Academy Post Cemetery in Section 13, Row A, Grave 38

Description: From Find A Grave: U.S. Army Brigadier General, Inventor of the Thompson Submachine Gun. Born in Newport, Kentucky, he was the son of a Union Civil War Colonel and career Army Officer, James Thompson. He grew up at military posts in the mid-west and later attended Indiana University for a year. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1882, 11th in his class. Thompson became a 2nd Lieutenant and was assigned to the 2nd U.S. Artillery. He served at various posts until he was assigned to the Army Ordnance Department in 1890. During the Spanish-American War, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and appointed as Chief Ordnance Officer. Thompson became a small arms specialist and was instrumental in developing the .45 caliber rimless cartridge for use with automatic weapons and eventually for use with the Colt Model 1911 .45 Automatic handgun. After years of failing to persuade the Army to adopt automatic weapons, he resigned in 1914 and accepted a position as a director with the Remington Arms Corporation. Remington built a factory to support the European War Effort and produced rifles for the British and Russian Armies. When the United States entered World War I, Thompson was recalled to active duty and was commissioned as a Brigadier General. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for his service as Director of Arsenals. After the war, he retired from the Army and concentrated on developing a practical automatic rifle. He invented the Thompson Submachine Gun, using .45 caliber ammunition, and sold the weapon in large quantities to law enforcement agencies after proving its effectiveness. The weapon popularly became known as the "Tommy Gun" and earned notoriety for its use by gangsters in the 1920s. His invention was later adopted by the U.S. Marine Corps and was put to great use during World War II. Thompson died at his residence in Newport in 1940 when he was 79 years old. Date of birth: 12/31/1860 Date of death: 06/21/1940 Area of notoriety: Science/Technology Marker Type: Monument Setting: Outdoor Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link] Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Not listed

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Date Logged Log   10/09/2021 Don.Morfe visited it