‘I don’t want Ross to be forgotten’ | Blount man remembers war hero uncle

BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — The story of Ross Howard Thompson, a Maryville native who died after surviving the Bataan Death March in the Philippines in World War II, starts in Maryville and goes through the West Coast before it heads to Asia.

But it’s what happened after the phone rang in 2022 at the Blount County Public Library that changed everything for his great-nephew, Lester Presley.

Presley is presenting about his uncle at the Blount County Public Library on Tuesday evening and is a member of the Blount County Genealogical and Historical Society. 

“We’ve got military history all the way back to the Revolution,” he said, adding he had loved ones who served in World War I, World War II and the Civil War, as well.

He was surprised a few years ago when former Blount County Genealogical and Historical Society President Tim Walker told him about a phone call he received from a group in Hawaii that identifies the remains of Prisoners of War.

Walker said the person on the other line of the phone wanted to know if they knew anyone in Blount County related to Thompson. At first, he wasn’t sure, so he brought it up a few days later at one of the historical society’s meetings. 

Presley is also part of the historical society and told the group that Thompson was his uncle.  He said one of his family members sent their DNA to a POW group in hopes the DNA would identify Thompson’s remains, and it did. Thompson was buried in California a few years ago. 

“And you know, it was just one of those jaw dropping moments when the right people were in the right room, at the right time,” Walker said.

Presley told 10News that his great-uncle served in both World Wars and did his last tour in the Philippines, where he fell in love and had a son. 

When the Japanese took over the Philippines, Thompson became a prisoner of war, survived the Bataan Death March and died later that year, in 1942, from what authorities said was illness.

Presley is emotional when he recounts why it’s important to share his great uncle’s story.

“There’s a saying that’s gone around many years,” he said. “That a person dies twice. The first time, they die physically. The second time they die is when they are no longer remembered. I don’t want Ross to be forgotten.”

He said Thompson’s son is still alive, he’s in his 90s and lives in the Philippines. Presley has been able to connect with other descendants too, who live in Washington state, but have also visited Blount County. 

Presley said one of Thompson’s superiors in the military told him everything he needed to know about his great-uncle.

“You know what he said about Ross, one word,” Presley said. “It asked about character and all it said was, ‘Excellent.’ That’s all he had to say.”