Maynard Lynn Hamilton – Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy

From a contemporary press report:

Maynard Lynn Hamilton, 73, a retired Navy Lieutenant Commander who survived the sinking of a ship off Guadalcanal during World War II, died of a heart attack September 22, 1998 at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, Virginia. A Locust Grove, Virginia, resident since 1993, he had lived in Annandale and Falls Church, Virginia.

Commander Hamilton, who was born in Opolis, Kansas, entered the Navy at age 17. In 1943, he was aboard the Navy oiler Kanawha when it was sunk by a torpedo. He also served on an attack transport in the Pacific.

He was assigned to an aircraft carrier during the Korean War. After 20 years of military service, he received a commission as lieutenant junior grade. He served off Vietnam during the Vietnam War and retired in 1971 from the Defense Communications Agency in Washington.

Commander Hamilton worked for seven years at the national headquarters of the American Red Cross as assistant director of communications and manager of office administration.

He was a member of the Retired Officers Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans and the Korean War Veterans.

Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Patricia Devlin Hamilton of Locust Grove; four children, Patricia Garnett of Unionville, Va., Suzanne Dooley of Falls Church, Maureen Hackert of Clifton and Brian Hamilton of Santa Cruz, Calif.; four sisters; a brother; and two granddaughters.

HAMILTON, MAYNARD L. (73)

On September 22, 1998, of Lake of the Woods, Locust Grove, VA, husband of Patricia Devlin Hamilton. He is also survived by four children, Patricia Lynn Garnett, Unionville, VA, Suzanne Linda Dooley, Alexandria, VA, Maureen Joan Hackert, Clifton, VA and Brian Devlin Hamilton, Santa Cruz, CA; four sisters, Eileen Denny, Bella Vista, AR, Reba Ruth Kenly, Sharon Wentz and Judith Hamilton, all of Kansas City, MO; one brother, Meredith Hamilton, Plano, TX; and two granddaughters. . Military services to be held Thursday, October 8, 1998 at 1:45 p.m., Old Fort Meyer Chapel with burial to take place at Arlington National Cemetery. Contributions may be sent to the Navy Memorial, 701 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 123, Washington, DC 20004.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard