Janel Duncan Hamilton
MilitaryJan was born on August 10, 1912, to George S. and Winifred Hamilton. He had a brother named Jack. He had a paper route when he was 12-13years old. His father died early. His mother was a very charming woman who everybody called "Mom".
Entered Army Air Force on 14 March 1942. He had schooling in airplane mechanic (Amarillo, TX) and flexible gunnery (Las Vegas, NV)
During World War II Jan served as a top gunner in a B-17. He signed up for a second time. One of the planes he was in was shot down and landed in France. It was later restored and he was sent pictures of it.
Awards include: Air Medal with Four Oak Leaf Clusters, Presidential Unit Citation with Oak Leaf Cluster, Good Conduct Medal, European Theater Medal with three stars
Rank: Technical Sergeant
Discharge date: 17 October 1945
After WWII, he worked for Southern Pacific Railroad for 45 years and received a pension from that. He lived in Oakland, California, all his life. He was a hard working man and was very private, therefore, he did not talk much about his time in the war.
He was married twice but his first wife's name is not known, at this time. His second wife's name is Iva Bernice Hewitt Hamilton and they were married in 1950, at a Methodist Church, in Lafayette, California. They spent the rest of their lives together. Jan passed at age 73 of emphysema in Oakland, California, in 1985.
Connections
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Units served with
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
Missions
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
10 August 1912 |
Revisions
Added " / " in the "Role/job" field as a separator to aid readability.
07-25-2021, Separation from service Record dated 17 October 1945
I have his medals in my possession, I have the citations (general orders) for the air medal and 4 oak leaf clusters
mission log from navigator, sent in letter to all crew on 10-15-1947
Notes from BIll C. Husey sent to each of the crew........dated October 15, 1947
Movement Orders, Heavy Bombardment Crew, Number FB-555-BJ 82, to overseas destination.
Source of information is a niece. And documents saved by the family. I have in my possession multiple photographs of him, missions and other documents and medals.
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / www.388bg.info/Personnel.html