"Many of us who flew Varks out of Pease in the mid-70s had the pleasure of working with then Major Jerry Thompson, a fine pilot, hell of a nice guy and one of the finest of military cartoonists. Those who have 'been there' know that K.I. Sawyer wasn't really such a wonderful place to be on alert in the midst of winter. If Jerry was there he would always come up with a cartoon or two to brighten things up. When you first look at one of his cartoons you will quickly pick up the central theme, but if you look carefully you will find more - much more."
Jerry has given permission to post his work on the site and has kindly provided us with much of the material still in his possession. More of this material may be in private hands. If you have any of his work and would care to share it, please get in touch with me. The book from which these cartoons were taken will eventually be reprinted and details how to obtain this book will be posted on the site, when available.The following cartoons are not all related directly to the FB-111A as most were drawn before the first FB was built. But they all relate to the SAC mission and in this sense, they are timeless and relate to every aircraft ever flown by SAC.Ed MacNeil, Ancient Aviator.
Who is Jerry Thompson? Jerry graduated from the University of Nebraska with a degree in fine art and soon decided that the Air Force was the right way to go since his dad was a career officer who retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. He graduated from pilot training at Big Spring, Texas, class of 62G, flying the T-33 and T-37s. He went on to fly B-52F, G and H, B-58, Hueys, CH-3s and HH-53s in Vietnam, then flew the FBs at Pease followed by T-39s at SAC HQ. After 15 years in the cockpit, went into command and control as an officer controller in the SAC underground. His last assignment was a joint assignment heading up the Operations Division of the Joint Connectivity Staff at Offut AFB. After Jerry retired from the Air Force, he worked in business development for GTE and then TRW. Now retired, Jerry lives in Colorado with a bundle of fond memories of a wonderful military career and hundreds of friends across the USA.
