Joseph T. Hamilton

Date of Birth: 04/19/1945
Neighborhood: Fairmount
High School: Benjamin Franklin High School
Street: N Capitol St.
Branch of Service: Army
Rank: PFC
Date of Casualty: 11/08/1965
Province of Casualty: Unknown
Philadelphia Memorial Panel: Panel 12
Panel Row: 12

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“Snooky” Hamilton's grandparents remembered him as strong and husky, but quiet and churchgoing. Each year Hamilton planted periwinkles and violets on their windowsill. The son of a 21-year Army veteran, he en-listed in the Army after attending Benjamin Franklin High School, telling friends he preferred to “be killed in the service than on the streets.” The private first class, an assistant gunner, served in Okinawa before being shipped to Vietnam in September 1965 and assigned to Company C of the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade. He was killed on Nov. 8, 1965, north of Saigon, while giving aid to a wounded soldier pinned down by enemy machine-gun fire. Hamilton was awarded the Silver Star posthumously. He was survived by his parents and several brothers and sisters.

Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial