Seymour Johnson's great-granddaughter visits base
By Kirsten Ballard
Published in News on October 18, 2014 10:34 PM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
4th Fighter Wing Commander Col. Mark Slocum and Jamie Thompson pose with a portrait of the young woman's great-grandfather, Seymour Johnson Friday on the Air Force base named in the fallen Navy pilot's memory.
It was Jaime Thompson's first time at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, but it felt like coming home.
The great-granddaughter of the installation's namesake traveled to Goldsboro Friday to tour the base -- and to learn more about a young Navy pilot who lost his life in his prime.
During her visit, she got to sit an the cockpit of an F-15E, talk to a weapons team and flip through her great-grandfather's Annapolis yearbook with 4th Fighter Wing commander Col. Mark Slocum.
She even got to see Johnson's uniform.
But for Jamie, the experience was about far more than a history lesson.
It was a chance to connect with a man she never knew.
"We did so much," she said. "I got to do a lot of the behind the scenes, special access stuff that I wouldn't expect to do."
And it was emotional -- personal.
When her grandmother, Suzanne, was only 9 years old, Johnson died in a training exercise.
A year later, the woman unveiled a portrait in Goldsboro during the base's naming ceremony.
"Even as she tells me about it now, tears are streaming down her face," Jaime said. "It was someone so important to her, I wanted to do something, since I can't be with her all the time and she's so special to me, to show her that I really love her."
Jaime planned to call her grandmother on her drive back to Charlotte to tell her about her adventure.
"It's been heart-wrenching, but really special to know that she had such a connection with her father, because that's something I share," Jamie said. "I'm very close with my dad.
"I think it's the fact that it's just so bittersweet, because it's such a huge honor to have this incredible facility named after Seymour, but at the same time, it's a very painful memory for my grandmother. She misses him so much to this day."
It started with an e-mail -- the young woman informing the 4th Fighter Wing's Public Affairs Office that she was a relative of the base's namesake and that she was living in North Carolina.
"I just said, 'Hey, believe it or not, I'm Seymour Johnson's great-granddaughter. I just moved to Charlotte. Do you think I could come onto base if you let me?'" Jamie said.
At the time, she just wanted to take a picture of the pilot's portrait.
But thanks to the efforts of base officials, Friday turned into something far more meaningful.
"It meant a lot for me to come over and see. It was a great opportunity for me," she said. "For me to come and learn a little more about him was very special."