Navy Veteran Continues Legacy with Second Act

Bennie Thompson is using his life experience to launch his next adventure.

Enrolling at Nashville State, the father of six and grandfather of four, left behind a 27-year career to chase a dream and build a legacy.

Now, in the home stretch of completing his bachelor’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University, Bennie Thompson sees his hard work pay off as a new future comes into view. 

An 8-year U.S. Navy veteran, Thompson served as a corpsman during the Persian Gulf War, deploying as a field medic with (Hotel) “H” Company Marines, an Infantry group out of Montgomery, Alabama, during Operation Desert Storm/Dessert Shield. After his deployment, Thompson continued serving stateside in the Naval Reserves for the remainder of his naval career.

While completing his service, Thompson finished an associate degree in electronics and began a career in the electronics and telecommunications field. There, he tested equipment to see how it held up to high-voltage electrical surges.

“It was a fun environment. My coworkers were great, and I had a good time with it. I’d go to work every day to blow things up and catch things on fire,” Thompson said.

With shifting economic times and pandemic downsizing, Thompson decided, or rather the times decided for him, that a change was necessary.

“I wanted and needed to do something different,” he said. “I’ve always liked the idea of building things, and I thought, now that my kids were grown, it would be a good time for those challenges and opportunities.”

After some research, he learned about the 2 for 2 transfer pathways between Nashville State and MTSU.

With long-term plans on the construction programs and bachelor’s degree offered at MTSU, Thompson enrolled as a civil engineering student at Nashville State.

“Nashville State was a natural tie-in,” Thompson said.

Living in Fayetteville, near the Alabama border, the online offerings at Nashville State were a big draw after the pandemic. “Strategically, I could attend there and take advantage of that without much movement.”

Back in school for the first time in 30 years, Thompson said it took a bit of a “reformatting of the mind,” to get into the swing of things. While it was not without challenges, Thompson was able to do well during his semesters at Nashville State and transferred to MTSU with honors.

Now in his senior year, Thompson is completing his degree in Concrete Industry Management.

In addition to his studies, he is completing an internship in Chicago and a study abroad in New Zealand. Upon return from New Zealand, he will also complete the Warrior-Scholar Project at Notre Dame, which makes this summer “a tight squeeze and especially challenging academically, but it’s possible.”

Warrior-Scholar Project is a higher education program for veterans and service members, emphazing undergrad and graduate studies in humanities, business, and STEM courses.

Thompson said going back to school at his age “has not been for the faint of heart, but it’s been worth it.”

He says it is important to, “take a personal inventory of where you are to figure out what goals you might want to reach in the end.”

“I don’t necessarily need a lot of money but want to be able to leave a good legacy with what I’m doing, hoping to inspire my kids and grandkids to a better future through education.”

Bennie Thompson’s story shows that hard work and persistence can pay off as he notes, “Building a brighter future at any age or creating a legacy, great or small, but one that is good, should be everyone’s goal”.