Bound by Blood and Duty: Ken and James Hamilton
Left to right: PFC Kenneth Carroll “Ken” Hamilton; PVT James Thomas Hamilton
Sandwiched between the end of World War II and the beginning of the Vietnam War, the Korean War is often referred to as “The Forgotten War.” Beginning on June 25, 1950, and lasting until July 27, 1953, 1.8 million U.S. military personnel served in Korea at various times. Of those 1.8 million, 33,686 died in combat on the Korean Peninsula. Brothers James Thomas Hamilton and Kenneth Carroll “Ken” Hamilton are included in those numbers.
Carl Columbus Hamilton, Sr. and Margueriete Morrison Hamilton were parents of eleven children – all born and raised in Amarillo. James and Ken were numbers nine and ten. Older brother, Willis “Bill,” was a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II. James and Ken chose to enlist in the Marines when their time to serve came up.
James and Ken were both assigned to the 1 st Marine Division. However, James was in Company R, 2nd Battalion, 5 th Marine Corps, while Ken served in Company B, 1st Battalion, 7 th Marine Corps. In September 1951, James, Ken, and their fellow Marines were in the battle for Kanmubong Ridge.
Ken, the younger of the two at 18 years old, lost his life on September 12 while assaulting Hill 673. The following is an excerpt from the Presidential Statement posthumously awarding the Bronze Star to Ken:
Realizing that an adjacent squad was running dangerously low on ammunition, he unhesitatingly moved through a mined area to supply and when the automatic weapons fire was masked by attacking infantrymen during the final stages of the attack, volunteered to go forward as a rifleman with a badly depleted rifle squad. Boldly charging forward through heavy enemy fire, he single-handedly assaulted a large hostile bunker and succeeded in neutralizing it completely before he fell, mortally wounded.
Five days later, on September 17, Ken’s older brother James was killed in action at the age of 21 in the battle for Hill 812. Although we don’t know the story of James’ death, one might imagine that both boys were raised to believe in service to their country and fellowman at all costs.
Although some may call the Korean War “The Forgotten War,” the Texas Panhandle War Memorial chooses to remember, to honor, and to never forget the lives and the sacrifices of brothers James and Ken Hamilton and their family.
The current Korean Demilitarized Zone now runs along the line of hills captured by the forces in September 1951. The Eulji Observatory is located on Yoke Ridge, looking directly across to the Kanmubong Ridge in North Korea.
