Ernest Thompson (1917- ) was born in Byronville, Georgia and grew up as the oldest of six children in Americus, Georgia. For the first five years of Thompson's life his father worked as a farmer. When the family moved to Americus Thompson's father worked for a lumber company. Upon graduation from high school in 1936, Thompson enlisted in the Navy and went to boot camp in Norfolk, Virginia. Before World War II, Thompson was assigned to the Tennessee battleship. In 1940, Thompson left the service and got married. He took a job as a laborer in Los Angeles for the Sub-Pacific Railroad and was promoted to boilermaker apprentice where he learned about steelwork and ironwork. He then went to work for the city of Los Angeles and got called back into service as a second class petty officer and was quickly promoted to first class based on his work experience. He was given orders to go to Philadelphia to take classes on engineering spaces in Navy ships. Upon completion of school, he chose to work on the Missouri and moved to the Flushing Avenue Barracks in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in March 1944. Thompson worked on the engineering spaces of the Missouri throughout World War II in No. 4 Boiler Room and was onboard Missouri during the surrender of Japan.