Hunter S Thompson...

Shot himself in the head.

Thompson got his start as a journalist in the Air Force, writing for the Eglin Air Force Base newspaper. His military career ended with a DD.

Update: Several conflicting versions of the end of Thompson's Air Force career are available on line (no surprise there!) I believe the Air Force Times has the true story, and stand corrected:

But well before Thompson chronicled fear and loathing in Las Vegas and in politics, he served two years in the Air Force and was honorably discharged as an airman second class.

According his biographers, Thompson enlisted with the service in 1956 after a judge gave the teenager the option of jail time or the military.

First trained as electronics technician at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., Thompson was assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., where he landed a job at information services.

Soon after, Thompson talked his way into the job of sports editor for the base newspaper, the Command Courier.

In a September 1956 letter reproduced for his book ?The Proud Highway,? Thompson told a friend: ?In short, we both know I?m no more qualified for a post like this than I am for the presidency of a theological seminary; but here is one major fact that makes it possible for me to hold this job: the people who hired me didn?t bother to check any too closely on my journalistic background.?

Thompson didn?t win many friends among Eglin?s brass and in August 1957 his commander recommend Thompson for early release.

?In summary, this airman, although talented will not be guided by policy,? Col. W.S. Evans, chief of information services wrote to the Eglin personnel office. ?Sometimes his rebel and superior attitude seems to rub off on other airmen staff members.?