Everyone says, 'You've struggled so much with the accident.' He served as Director of Arsenals throughout the remainder of the war, in which capacity he supervised all small-arms production for the Army. Readers can reach Forum reporter Heidi Shaffer at (701) 241-5511. Thompson became an instant hero and received international attention following the accident. Gun Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. Thompson was most well known as the designer of his eponymous submachine gun, although he also designed other firearms such as a prototype semi-automatic rifle. The story of a small-town North Dakota kid who dialed for help with a pencil clenched in his teeth and waited in the bathtub so he wouldn't get blood on his mother's carpet was featured in national headlines. 58102, Agenda for Tuesday's city council meeting, Counseling practice to focus on women's perinatal mental health, Waseca big man with a Big Ten basketball offer chose Bison because program 'fit me the most', Snow piles highest in southeast North Dakota, west-central Minnesota, Fargo on brink of second shutdown, mayor says, Fargo, Moorhead parents of children with special needs feel education hindered with COVID-19 learning models. He retired again after the war, in December 1918, and resumed work perfecting the "Tommy Gun.". The book became a best-seller in the Midwest, and he hopes to republish it for the 20th anniversary of the accident, Thompson said. The attention left him feeling more like a side show than a person at times, he said. Thompson studied several designs and was impressed with a delayed-blowback breech system designed by John Blish, a commander in the United States Navy. On a January day in 1992, an accident on a central North Dakota farm forever changed John Thompson's life. Born on December 31, 1860, in Newport, Kentucky, Thompson grew up on a succession of Army posts and had decided on the military as a career by the age of sixteen. But the publicity was positive in many ways, too, he said. [4], When the United States finally entered the war in 1917, Thompson returned to the Army and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. "The attention was way harder. "I don't care how old your child is, if your child is in pain, whether it's physical or psychological, you feel it," she said. During this period he began his specialization in small arms. He then attended engineering and artillery schools and was finally assigned to the Army's Ordnance Department in 1890, where he spent the rest of his military career. "That's not easy to deal with as a young man and wanting to be independent," she said. Brigadier General John Taliaferro Thompson (often anglicized to John Tolliver Thompson) was an American firearms designer. The then-high school senior's arms were severed by a tractor's power intake and successfully reattached in an eight-hour surgery. He is most prominently known as being the inventor of his eponymous submachine gun. He is most prominently known as being the inventor of his eponymous submachine gun. I get that all the time," Thompson said. Contrary to popular belief, the Thompson submachine gun was not that successful in his own lifetime, with production only picking up after he died. Born on New Year's Eve in Newport, Kentucky, Thompson had grown up on a succession of Army posts; he eventually decided that a career in the military was his calling at age sixteen. Thompson was promoted to colonel, the youngest such in the Army at the time. More than 18,000 tons of munitions were transferred to the battlefield from his Tampa command without any accidents. Since the U.S. did not immediately enter the war, and because he recognized a significant need for small arms in Europe (as well as an opportunity to make a substantial profit), Thompson retired from the Army in November of that year and took a job as Chief Engineer of the Remington Arms Company. But the attention that has followed him for the past two decades has been harder to deal with than the actual disability, John Thompson said. Thompson later died of a heart attack on 21 June 1940 in Great Neck, New York. Thompson originally pursued the Autorifle concept: a rifle utilizing the Blish principle delayed-blowback action to avoid the complexity of recoil-operated and gas-operated actions. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. "The struggles have just changed him completely," she said. "That's usually the first thing people say: 'You're the kid in the bathtub.' Thompson was an early advocate of automatic arms. "That's always been a great thing about it," he said. [1], Shortly after he died, the United States' entry into World War II loomed; this prompted the United States Army to order large quantities of his submachine gun, where it was used to great effect throughout the course of the war.[2]. Last year, Thompson began losing some strength in his hands, a problem made worse by North Dakota winters, he said. That was no big deal at all," he said. Thompson died at the age of 79 on June 21, 1940, [5] and is buried on the grounds of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. With Blish as a partner, Thompson obtained the necessary venture capital to form the Auto-Ordnance Company, and began working on the design of what eventually became the Thompson submachine gun. ND There's no comparison. It manufactured Pattern 1914 Enfield rifles for British forces, and Mosin–Nagant rifles for Russia. At the request of Lt. John H. Parker, Thompson arranged for the informal formation of a Gatling gun unit, with fifteen weapons and a generous supply of ammunition, all shipped to Cuba on Thompson's sole authority. While with the company he supervised the construction of the Eddystone Arsenal in Chester, Pennsylvania, at that time the largest small arms plant in the world. The weapon was patented in 1920, but the major source for contracts had ended with the armistice. Today, the 37-year-old works as a real estate agent in Minot, N.D., where he has lived for the past 11 years. With the beginning of the Spanish–American War, Thompson was promoted to lieutenant colonel and sent to Tampa, Florida as Chief Ordnance Officer for the commander of the Cuban campaign, General William R. Shafter. The then-high school senior's arms were severed by a tractor's power intake and successfully reattached in an eight-hour surgery. Though he regained limited use of his arms, the physical limitations of Thompson's 19-year-old injuries have been more pronounced in recent months, he said. He would later serve as the Director of Arsenals of the US Army from 1917 to 1918, after which he retired from the Army yet again to continue working on his submachine gun. https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/540, https://guns.fandom.com/wiki/John_T._Thompson?oldid=85243. His celebrity helped raise money for United Blood Services and other charities over the years. [3], The introduction of trench warfare in the First World War changed tactics substantially, and by 1916 Thompson was experimenting again with automatic small arms, this time attempting to design a weapon that troops could use to clear an enemy trench—what he called a "trench broom." After the war, Thompson was appointed the chief of the Small Arms Division for the Ordnance Department. During the years leading up to the United States' entrance into World War I, Thompson and a business partner, John Blish, worked on developing what would later become the Thompson submachine gun; Thompson would also found the Auto-Ordnance Corporation in December 1916. Thompson still struggles daily with the results of that accident - both physically and emotionally, said his mom, Karen Thompson, who still lives on the Hurdsfield, N.D., farm where the accident took place. For the latter, he devised unusual tests involving firing the weapon at donated human cadavers and live cattle to assess ammunition effectiveness. His disability has made finding work difficult, Karen Thompson said. Today, th... 101 5th Street North, For other people named John Thompson, see, http://www.nfatoys.com/tsmg/web/genthomp.htm, http://www.sightm1911.com/lib/history/background.htm#test, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_T._Thompson&oldid=959023272, American military personnel of the Spanish–American War, Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army), Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 26 May 2020, at 19:59. Thompson, therefore, marketed the weapon to civilian law enforcement agencies, who bought it in respectable quantities. It was also this war that offered Thompson his first exposure to automatic weapons. Patenting his submachine gun in 1920, Thompson attempted to market it to a number of militaries; this plan fouled as most sources for these contracts had ended with the armistice. "When it gets cold, my hands don't work at all," he said. While the rest of the Army was plagued with logistical problems, Thompson managed ordnance supply operations to Cuba efficiently. For this service he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. On a January day in 1992, an accident on a central North Dakota farm forever changed John Thompson's life. World War I began in Europe in 1914, and Thompson was sympathetic to the Allied cause. This unit later played a significant role in the Battle of San Juan Hill. John Taliaferro (Italian pronunciation: [ˌtaljaˈfɛrro]) (anglicized to "Tolliver"[1]) Thompson (December 31, 1860 – June 21, 1940) was a United States Army officer best remembered as the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun. However, by 1928 low sales had led the company to the financial crisis, and Thompson was replaced as head of the Auto-Ordnance Company.[4]. Shortly after his death, the looming entry of the U.S. into World War II prompted the Army to order the Thompson submachine gun in large quantities, and it was used extensively during that conflict. Fargo, While in this position he supervised the development of the M1903 Springfield rifle and chaired the ordnance board that approved the M1911 pistol. Brigadier General John Taliaferro Thompson (often anglicized to John Tolliver Thompson) was an American firearms designer. His first duty station was in his birthplace of Newport, where he was assigned to the 2nd Artillery as a second lieutenant. Today, Thompson still gets recognized almost everywhere he goes, and it's those details people remember, he said. His mom said the emotional scars and depression that followed the accident have been the hardest part of John's struggle. Six weeks after surgeons reattached his severed arms, 18-year-old John Thompson left a hospital Tuesday.

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