Memorial

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Gerald E. Hamilton graduated from Martel High School in 1937. He was employed by the North Electric Company of Galion and later by the Ohio Injector Company of Wadsworth.

He enlisted in Cleveland, Ohio on 14 October 1941 and transferred to the Air Corps on 2 January 1943. He was overseas in August 1944,

According to S/Sgt Albert E. Lewis, the radio operator who survived the crash, the airplane flew into heavy enemy anti-aircraft fire after dropping the paratroopers. The right wing caught on fire and the order to bail out was given. He and the crew chief bailed out together. He didn't see the pilot and the co-pilot leave the plane.

The crew members survived and returned to duty, two men were killed.

There were also 27 passengers on board, all members of the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 17th Airborne Division.

When the wreckage was found on 5 April 1945 no bodies were discovered near or in the wreckage. Buckles and parts of parachutes were found in the seats of both pilots, which indicated that both men were in the aircraft at the time of the crash. Any bodies that might have been in the wrecked aircraft must have been removed earlier by Graves Registration personnel.