Col. William J. Hamilton, a graduate of Laconia High School, began his military career as an enlistee in the U.S. Army Air Corps in January of 1943. He graduated from Aviation Cadets and was commissioned a second lieutenant on December 5, 1943. Hamilton went on to be stationed with the 8th Air Force in England from July 1944 to May 1945. He flew 30 combat missions over Europe in B-17’s during World War II, six missions as a squadron leader and 18 as a group leader. Shot down over Belgium in December 1944 while flying in support of ground forces during the Battle of the Bulge, Hamilton was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters.

After the war, Hamilton worked for Railway Express and Swift in his home town of Laconia. He was later contacted by N.H. Adjutant General Charles F. Bowen. Bowen wanted to form an Air National Guard unit and needed a pilot for his airplane. Col. Hamilton took the job and, along with seven others, became a member of Gen. Bowen’s flight crew and administration team. He started his new job in Concord in April 1951.

Hamilton later transferred to Grenier Field and served as a pilot in the 133rd Fighter Squadron and then successively as the commander of materiel and supply squadrons and commander of the 133rd Air Transport Squadron (MATS), during the Berlin Crisis when the NHANG was activated.

In January 1964, as aircraft commander of a C-97, he became the first Air National Guard aircrew to fly the Pacific non-stop from Japan to Honolulu. Shortly after landing in Hawaii, he also became the first Air National Guardsman to participate in a mid-Pacific air search and rescue operation.

Back home, Hamilton was promoted to group commander in April 1965 and directed the 157th’s transfer from Grenier to Pease Air Force Base in January 1966. During his command, the 157th earned a Military Airlift Citation for 10 years of flying operations in two types of transport aircraft without an accident. In 1971 the 157th was honored by MAC’s 21st Air Force as the Air Guard-Air Reserve unit having the highest degree of operational excellence.

Col. Hamilton’s humanitarian legacy is remembered to this day in the 157th. As a family man and war veteran, he especially enjoyed the many Guard missions which focused on those in need. Through the controls of an airplane, he learned to deal with life. The 157th leader, who passed away in 1992, developed a personal courage to carry on in the face of adversity and the resourcefulness to handle whatever came his way. He valued people and life as the most precious of commodities. Col. Hamilton took tremendous pride in the reputation earned by the men and women of the New Hampshire Air National Guard—a reputation to which he contributed greatly.