1991 Central Graduate Awarded the Bronze Star

Major Mark Thompson (U.S. Army), a 1991 graduate of Central High School and son of William and Mary Thompson was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions while deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF 08-09). Thompson served as the commander of a Task Force providing detainee operations for high value criminals formerly of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party Regime. Receiving his commission in 1996 from Vanderbilt University's Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) in Nashville, Tenn. Thompson earned a bachelor's of science degree in Criminal Justice from Tennessee State University in Nashville in 1996 and a master's of science degree in public administration from Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Mich., in 1999. Thompson is the husband of the former Petrina M. Payne of Detroit, MI and father of Kristopher, age 11.