Thompson, Robert George (21 June 1915–16 October 1965), military hero and ranking American Communist Party figure, was born in Fruitdale, Oregon, the son of Harold Condon Thompson, a logger, and Ernestine Mell. Harold Thompson considered himself a Socialist but was not a member of the Socialist party (SP) or of the Industrial Workers of the World. Robert received little formal education, joining his father in the logging camps at age twelve; they later worked together in the lettuce fields....
