Missing information?

Do you have any additional information you would like to share about a soldier?

Submit

Personal info

Full name
HAMILTON, Thurman Chelton
Date of birth
29 December 1923
Age
21
Place of birth
Eskdale, Kanawha County, West Virginia
Hometown
Kanawha County, West Virginia

Military service

Service number
35652972
Rank
Private First Class
Function
unknown
Unit
HQ & HQ Company,
3rd Battalion,
82nd Airborne Division
Awards
Bronze Star,
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
7 April 1945
Place of death
Probably in the Rhine River between Hitdorf and Langel
Hitdorf-am-Rhein, Germany

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
Walls of the Missing

Immediate family

Members
Harold W. Hamilton (father)
Flora (Farley) Hamilton (mother)
Juanita Hamilton (sister)
Jack Williams (stepbrother)
Robert Williams (stepbrother)

More information

Pfc Thurman C. Hamilton enlisted in Fort Thomas Newport, Kentucky on 10 March 1943.

He probably drowned during the withdrawal from Hitdorf.

Pfc James M. McNamara Jr. of the same platoon recalled that his boat sank on the way back and someone shouted he couldn't swim. McNamara tried to keep himself and an unknown soldier floating, but in the strong current of the Rhine River was unable to do so. It is assumed this unknown soldier (it was dark during the withdrawal) was Hamilton.

Source of information: Frank van Lunteren, Terry Hirsch, Peter Schouteten, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - 1930 census, West Virginia Memory Project

Photo source: Dennis and Gerda Hermsen