Thompson published a book in 2006 entitled, Tiger Joe: A photographic Diary of a World War II Aerial Reconnaissance Pilot. On one of his missions over France, anti-aircraft fire penetrated his P-51 Mustang aircraft just behind his cockpit; it destroyed his camera equipment, severed the hydraulic lines and stopped the engine. As he was about to parachute out, the engine inexplicably started again and enabled him to fly to an airstrip 20 miles away but quit again before he could land. He landed the plane with a "dead stick" hitting the runway at an angle and with no brakes.
