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Submit- Full
name
HAMMOND, Thomas Edward - Date of
birth
3 March 1924 -
Age
20 - Place of
birth
Edgefield, Edgefield County, South Carolina -
Hometown
Colliers, Edgefield County, South Carolina
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
34651919 -
Rank
Staff Sergeant -
Function
Right Waist Gunner -
Unit
342nd Bombardment Squadron,
97th Bombardment Group, Heavy
-
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
25 July 1944 - Place of
death
Near Linz, Austria
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Epinal - Tablets of the Missing
Immediate family
-
Members
John E. Hammond (father)
Rubye I. (Miller) Hammond (mother)
Julian M. Hammond (brother)
Edith Hammond (sister)
Mabelle (Knight) Hammond (wife)
Plane data
- Serial
number
44-6183 -
Data
Type: B-17G
Destination: Linz, Austria
Mission: Bombing of the Herman Göring Tank Works
MACR: 7125
More information
S/Sgt Thomas E. Hammond was an electrician before he enlisted at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, on 7 April 1943.Sgt Walter P. Gambill:
"Just before bombs away, the pilot of our aircraft called out, 'B-17 hit by flak at one o'clock.' It was the lead ship of our formation of the 97th Bomb Group. I turned my turret to watch it fall, and at this time the aircraft was going straight down. It was heading to the rear of our formation at the same time. It almost straightened out when I saw five chutes come out, and they all opened, and then the aircraft blew up. That is the last of the aircraft in trouble I saw."
S/Sgt Hammond did not have time to bail out. His remains were never recovered.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com - Edith Hammond Stone, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Jon Mathis Family Tree, www.fold3.com
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Have Paws will travel, Hannah Majewski - Jan Satterfield Edgefield Advertiser - May of 2008