Pembroke Thomas Hamilton was born on 3 July 1923 in Lynn, Essex county, Massachusetts to Percy W. and Edith (Little) Hamilton. He attended Marblehead High School and was a football star; he worked at Colbert’s Market before entering the service on 8 November 1942 from Boston.

PFC Pembroke Thomas Hamilton (service number 487808) served with George Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Division as they fought during the Battle of Tarawa, Gilbert Islands beginning 20 November 1943. They were to secure the airstrip to prevent Japanese forces from getting closer to the US and which was crucial for the US offensive across the central Pacific. The initial landing was hampered by low tides forcing US troops to leave landing craft and wade ashore. Unfortunately for the Marines, the beach was shaped in such a way that it created a crossfire by the Japanese on shore; casualties were highest this day and many never set foot on the beach. PFC Pembroke Hamilton’s landing craft was shot out from under him on 20 November 1943 with the whole crew going MIA; he is listed on the Courts of the Missing, Honolulu Memorial, Hawaii.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

SOURCES: Find-a-Grave; FamilySearch.org; Ancestry.com; Wikipedia

Pembroke T Hamilton