John L. Hamilton
December 13, 1919 – November 21, 1982
Class: 43-E-SE
Graduation date: SE 5/28/1943
Rank at time of graduation: 2nd Lt.
Service # 01576078
From: Greenwood, MS
Very little has been documented about Lt. John L. Hamilton’s military career.
Mississippian John L. Hamilton was born in 1919. He enlisted on July 15, 1942, and graduated from the U.S. Army Air Corps’ Tuskegee Flight School in May 1943 with the rank of second lieutenant. Hamilton quickly saw action in World War II. First Lieutenant Hamilton received the Purple Heart after sustaining leg injuries in a dive-bombing mission at the Allied invasion of Italy in 1944. He died November 21, 1982, and is buried at Riverside National Cemetery (Section 6, Grave 270).
Here is an account found in Tuskegee Airmen Chronology, by Dr. Daniel Haulman, page 21
9 March 1944: Lt. Wayne Vincent Liggins of the 301st Fighter Squadron was killed while on a training mission. His engine failed. (332d Fighter Group summary history, Oct 1942-1947). Meanwhile, in the 99th Fighter Squadron, not yet assigned to the 332d Fighter Group, 2d Lt. John Hamilton was wounded in the leg by flak during a dive-bombing mission in the Anzio area. (99th Fighter Squadron history, Feb-Apr 1944)
Hamilton died Nov. 21, 1982, and is one of seven Tuskegee Airmen buried at the Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, Calif.
Sources:
Photo courtesy U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, Alabama
African Americans in Military Service World War II to Vietnam
Photo: Service coat with the Twelfth Air Force emblem, pilot wings, medal ribbons, and three service stripes belonging to 1st Lt John L. Hamilton. A pilot with the 99th Fighter Squadron, he received the Purple Heart after being wounded in the leg by flak during a dive-bombing mission at Anzio on March 9, 1944. [Please note that the “U.S.” lapel and rank insignia have been added to complete the uniform.] This service coat is on display in the Tuskegee Airmen Exhibit in the WWII Gallery at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo)
