I spent the morning working on a Trojan barrel reblue, which after six successful times in the boiling water, I contaminated. Oh well, there's always another day. Spent all afternoon until just a few minutes ago writing a Memorial Day article. Here is just a part of it about Stanley and Linwood Hamm:
When the United States began the mobilization for WWII, two of the Hamm boys were pressed into service. Stanley and Linwood were called to serve in the Army, and both were sent to Europe. Tech 5 Stanley Hamm of the 113th Cavalry was severely wounded in Germany, and spent months recuperating from the wound. Younger brother Linwood, now serving with the 331st Infantry Regiment of the 83rd Division and daily under fire, wrote home with his concerns. On March 12, 1945 Linwood wrote his mother: “Write and tell me how Stanley is getting along every letter that you get from him…” The 83rd, known as the Thunderbolt Division, was driving the Germans back across their country.
The 83rd had landed at Normandy a few weeks after D-Day and was sent to relieve the 101st Airborne in the forward positions. On July 4, 1944 the 83rd launched its first major attack. That winter they took part in the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes Forest, fighting for ten days and nights with little or no sleep in the bitter cold of the German winter. On March 2, 1945 Linwood distinguished himself near Brucke, Germany. Acting as a scout for his squad, PFC Hamm’s progress was halted by a machine gun firing at close range. Linwood fired a white phosphorous grenade, and under the cover of the smoke, he advanced and threw a hand grenade, eliminating the machine gun. For his actions Linwood was awarded the Bronze Star.
The 83rd Division had crossed the Elbe River and established a bridgehead, and although Nazi Germany was on the verge of collapse, the resistance was strong. On Sunday April 15, 1945, just 23 days before the surrender known as VE Day, Linwood was killed instantly. In a letter to the Hamm family, Venters Keen of Portland, TN, wrote of the heartache of seeing his best friend killed, a friend that he had fought, slept, and eaten with for the past year under continuous combat. Brother Stanley was able to visit Linwood’s gravesite. At the family’s request, Linwood was later removed from the cemetery in Margraten, Holland...
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