More detail on this person: I don't know how
many of our members would remember MG James
F. Hamlet who died in January. I just learned of
his death last week and am currently trying to get
the details. Jim was one of the first black
aviators to make general and when he retired he
was a Master Aviator. He was my unit commander
when I was a 2nd Lt stationed at Fort Ord, CA. He
was, indeed, a fine officer and a true gentleman.
He was ADC of the 1st Cav in 1967. I was invited
to his retirement party at Bolling AFB in DC and
will never forget what he said about his early
days in the Army. He said, " When I entered the
Army a black man was not allowed to lead a squad
to the latrine. We have come a long way." This information was last updated 09/17/2018
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Date posted on this site:
03/10/2024
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I will miss communicating with him from time to
time. He was also the one who taught me that
military friendships do not require constant
nurturing because each time you meet you can
pickup where you left off from the last meeting.
From: Bill Redman, bredman@energyunited.net
I've been "volunteered", and gladly accept the
attempt, to gather all the recollections we can of
a couple great Aviation soldiers--MGs James
Hamlet and William Maddox. I understand from
Dick Tierney that these two heroes were good
friends and collaborators in some very significant
efforts for Army Aviation. Ironic, like with Adams
and Jefferson, that they should die on the same
day.
Don't you agree it worthy to muster historical
tales of these two pioneers and retain them in the
Army Aviation Branch historical and
memorialization files. Someday we're going to
want to look at them in those lights. I will
gather your inputs into a single document for each
of the two Army Aviator Pioneers and forward them
to the Army Aviation Branch Historian, who will
insure their appropriate retention and use.
Follows is a great example, already received from
a retired Army Aviation Master Sergeant and Army
Aviation pioneer.
I served under MG Hamlet in Viet Nam, 71-72, 1st
Cav, 11th Aviation Co. He would send us a case or
two of steaks occasionally. CW-4 Bobby Bruce was
his pilot just before I rotated in 72 and CW-2
Gillus (spelling may be wrong) was his pilot when
I arrived in 71 from Germany. I remember a
special formation he called. It seemed a couple of
the 75th Ranger got drunk and set off their basic
load of ammo. (scared the hell out of me) This
happened at Bien Hoa, across the street from my
hooch.
General Hamlet had a public "Ass Chewing" of the
entire 75th Rangers in front of the whole 1st
brigade, with them standing at attention and the
remaining troops standing at ease.
From: Skip Powell, Skippowell@aol.com AAHF
LTC James F. Hamlet was assigned as the
Battalion Commander of the 227th ASHB in RVN
from November, 1966 to June, 1967. I flew with him
in a 64 ship formation near the Cambodian Border
area southwest of Pleiku in December, 1966. At the
time, it was the largest combat assault of UH-1
Hueys the 1st CAV had ever attempted in RVN. He
was an outstanding Officer and Aviator who was
impressed with the caliber of Warrant Officers he
flew with in the 227th BN.
From: John Keller
In the summer of 1966, I was transferred to Viet
Nam and assigned to the 227th Assault Helicopter
Battalion of the 1st Cavalry Division based at An
Khe. The Battalion Call sign was Bushmaster. I was
further assigned as the XO of the gunship company,
company "D". The company call sign was White
Fang. LTC A.T. Pumphrey was the Bn Commander.
In August, I was made the Company Commander.
Shortly thereafter, LTC James F. Hamlet replaced
LTC Pumphrey as the Bn Commander. Around the
1st of September the battalion deployed from the
base camp and began continuous field operations.
The Bn. was the primary aviation support for the
3rd Brigade. Every few days the Bn moved to a new
fire base. The area of operations for the Bn.
extended from the Laos border to the South China
Sea just south of Danang.
In early February 1967, we were operating along
the South China Sea moving northward towards the
An Lo Valley. Normal operations consisted of
providing six "slicks" and two "guns" as a ready
Reaction Force {RRF) each night to the Brigade
Commander in a forward firebase. On the 5th of Feb
I was the lead Gunship and my wingman was Capt
Grady King. We flew to LZ English just at dusk. We
positioned the "guns" on the ground to cover the
"slicks" and awaited further orders from Brigade.
A firefight was going on along the north edge of
the firebase. Soon the fog settled in and we
settled in for the night with radio contact with
Brigade. At about 2 AM we were hit by a heavy
mortar barrage. Before we could untie the blades
we were surrounded by dozens or mortar
explosions. All of my crew and Capt King's crew
were seriously wounded. After the mortar attack we
gathered together and found an aid station. Later
we learned that each helicopter had more than 250
fragment holes. At first light, evac helicopters
took the two wounded crews to the 67th Evac
Hospital at Que Nhon. After surgery the next day,
I woke up to see LTC Jim Hamlet at the foot of my
bed. I will never forget him grinning at me as he
asked how I was doing. The other members of my
Company were all evacuated to Japan. I remained in
the hospital for 3 weeks and returned to my
Company. LTC Hamlet then sent me with one of my
platoons to a quiet base along the seashore south
of Que Nhon. He wanted to give me a few days to
recover from the hospital stay.
In March Jim relieved me from the Company and
assigned me as his Bn S-3. For about four months
we shared the Battalion Command Bunker and had
adjoining hex tents whenever we moved. One day I
was flying as observer of a first light Battalion
Combat Assault maintaining radio contact with LTC
Hamlet in the Command Bunker at LZ Dog. LTC
Hamlet reported to me that the Division Ammo
depot nearby had been attacked and was
exploding. Pallets of artillery shells and rockets
were exploding everywhere. Rockets were flying
overhead and some had penetrated some of the
sandbag bunkers and several soldiers were injured
and 1 or 2 were killed. Jim remained calm as he
talked to me on the radio and reported what was
happening. The explosions from the ammo dump
lasted for several hours. He diverted our flight
to another nearby firebase.
In June LTC Hamlet was transferred from the 227th
to become the Deputy Commander of the 11th
Aviation Group.
In 1968, I again met Jim at Ft Leavenworth,
Kansas. He was now a full Colonel assigned to the
Combat Developments Command. On a couple of
occasions he and his wife had dinner with us at
our home with our family. In the 1970s, I visited
him in his office as the Commanding General of
Fort Carson, Colorado and the 4th Infantry
Division.
In 1980, I retired from the Army after 30 years of
service. During that period I never worked for a
better boss than Jim. He was a superb commander,
an extremely compassionate human being and a
friend. I miss him greatly.
Robert M Gibbs, LTC US Army Retired
My Dad and Jim were best friends - went through
all the basic courses together - Ord, Rucker, - we
were stationed in Germany together and, as my
second "father", Jim visited me in the hospital,
helped me learn how to play baseball, football,
golf. He visited us in Japan when he got the
chance - made the comment once in front of Gen
James Cash that Dad was the best aviator the
Army ever had and would ever have - "Doc" laughed
and asked "Why do you think I keep Jack around?"
When Dad was CO at Sherman AAF at Ft.
Leavenworth, Jim came to visit frequently with
Faye and we had our "family" back together again.
Too many tales - too many memories - a lot of
happiness.
From: Wesley J. P. Westphal II
I was assigned to Ft Carson, CO in August of 1972.
We were the first WAC's to be assigned to Ft
Carson since WWII. I was a mere Pfc when I
chose to reenlist with an overseas option. I am a
Black female & told the career counselor I wanted
General Hamlet to swear me in. The career
counselor advised that the general would be too
busy but I insisted he at least ask. To my
amazement General Hamlet took the time to swear
in this lowly Pfc. I have photos of us during
that occasion. Out of the blue I decided to
google him & was sad to hear of his passing. I
wish I had told him how much that meant to me.
From: Jan C. Campbell
I was transferred to F/9th Cav from 2/17th Cav
when the 101st returned to CONUS and assigned to
the Aero Scout platoon. First time I'd flown in
the flatlands, quite a change of pace. Following
leave I was reassigned to B/229th AHB and was
directly involved in the siege and relief of An
Loc. During my 2.5 years in Vietnam I did not
serve under a more capable combat commander
than BG Hamlet. He is remembered for a very
simple reason. He was a leader, not a commander.
From: Dan Hilliard <2buntings@comcast.net>
While manning the land-lines and
Radios at the TOC, Ranger Team 76 made radio
contact. They were requesting permission to
engage hostile forces who were taking a swim in a
small stream. It was also stated that there
appeared to be a Chinese Advisor with this group
of approximately seven personnel. I informed
Captain Collins, the TOC-OIC. He did not want to
authorize permission to engage. A second fervent
request was transmitted. I was informed that
General Hamlet would have to make that decision
and that the OIC was not about to wake the
General. I said that I would do so, with TOC-OIC
permission. Permission was granted. General
Hamlet was very receptive to an E-5 knocking on
his quarters door. I quickly briefed the General
and while we were walking to the TOC, I further
informed General Hamlet that Ranger Team 76
sounded extremely confident in their ability to
accomplish this engagement. General Hamlet
asked me what I would do. I would give permission
to engage. General Hamlet spoke with the Ranger
76 Team Leader and gave permission to engage. All
enemy combatants were KIA and several
documents, in Chinese, were recovered. General
Hamlet was a great
leader of men. He instilled confidence and
dedication to duty. Later I was to serve with
General Hamlet at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
This account may be redacted in any form should
someone choose to have
it added to the history of General James Hamlet.
My home phone is
1-702-437-8636. Thank you for taking time to read
this.
From: Harold Linscott Smith, SFC, US Army,
Retired