Ronnie Thompson (Georgia Politician) - Rallying Behind The Military and The Police

Rallying Behind The Military and The Police

Thompson enlisted in the United States Air Force after his high school graduation. He served in the intelligence unit during the Korean War until a football injury resulted in his discharge in 1952 and disqualified him from pilot training. Thompson was a strong proponent of the American troops who were assigned to block the expansion of communism in the Vietnam War. He traveled to South Vietnam and went into the combat areas. He returned to Macon with numerous hand-delivered messages from the troops for their families. The sight of the American flag inspired staunch patriotic feeings in Thompson. "I always get a thrill when I see the flag go by or hear the Star-Spangled Banner, said Thompson, who contends that his maternal family is descended from Francis Scott Key. Thompson established the label "Flag City U. S. A." for Macon, where on Poplar Street are fifty-four flagpoles which fly the emblems of each state, the U.S. flag, and the standards of the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Thompson said that he felt compelled to protect the students of Mercer University, which he had briefly attended, from subversive speakers brought to the campus. He once vowed to arrest the antiwar activist and actress Jane Fonda were she to speak at Mercer.

He also rallied to the defense of U.S. Army Lieutenant William L. Calley, Jr., a fellow southerner who was convicted in the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War. Thompson even offered Calley employment when the officer was paroled.

As he had with the troops in Vietnam, Thompson declared himself a strong supporter of the police. He recorded "A Policeman's Prayer" in the style of John Wayne's patriotic film The Green Berets.