Dorothy Wain Thompson was born on 18 January, 1912 in Granite Quarry, North Carolina where she would remain until she began her military service on 12 January, 1943. While living in Granite Quarry, she was employed in what her family described as a "dead-end job" working at Rockwell Casket Company. Thompson enlisted in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps on 20 November, 1942. She did her basic training first in Daytona, Florida and was placed into the administrative field. She was then sent to Camp Polk, Louisiana for special training before being sent to her first official station in Fort Devens, Massachusetts.

Thompson was only stationed at Fort Devens for a short time before being sent to Camp Hycombe in England where she became a member of the newly formed Women's Army Corps (WAC). She was assigned to Headquarters Eighth Air Force and was a secretary for General James H. Doolittle. During her service, Dorothy Wain Thompson met Curtiss Thompson and married him. She also began writing to publishers to try to get her manuscripts published. Most of her writing was influenced by her experiences during the war and provide both humorous and informative accounts of a WAC's life in the military. Thompson left military service in 1945.

In the 1950s, Dorothy Thompson began working for the Office of Civilian Defense in Denton, Texas and played an influential role in the development of the office. She remained with the company until she retired in February of 1972. Dorothy Wain Thompson passed away on 21 January, 1991 in Salisbury, North Carolina.