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Information > Heritage > History Person
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Lt. Col. Pierpont Morgan Hamilton
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Lt. Col. Pierpont M. Hamilton volunteered for a perilous mission to go through enemy lines to convince the Vichy French to stop their hostilities and unite with the Allies with Col. Demas Craw. His actions saved untold American lives in the campaign to overtake French Morrocco, earning him the Medal of Honor along with Colonel Craw. (U.S. Air Force illustration)
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Two Airmen took different paths from their hometowns to the Moroccan coast, but their journeys resulted in thousands of lives saved and two Medals of Honor. The Allied invasion of North Africa, called "Torch," kicked off Nov. 8, 1942. It led to the defeat of Germany's Afrika Korps and secured North Africa and the Mediterranean as a base for the invasion of Southern Europe. Maj. Pierpont Hamilton and Col. Demas Craw volunteered to accompany leading assault boats through enemy lines near Port Lyautey in French Morocco, to locate the Vichy French commander and mediate a suspension of hostilities.
Hamilton was born in Tuxedo, N.Y., in August 1898, and graduated with his Bachelors of Arts and Master of Arts from Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. He entered military service in August 1917 after attending the Aviation Ordnance School at Cornell University and flying schools at Hazelhurst Field, N.Y., and Ellington Field, Texas. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps and rated a pilot on May 8, 1918.
He served as an instructor pilot at Ellington Field until he was relieved from active duty in December 1918. During the next two decades, he was engaged in international banking in France and operated his own business of commercial development of patents and processes in sound and color photography.
In March 1942 Hamilton returned to active duty with the Air Force as a major and was assigned to the Intelligence Section at Air Force headquarters. The following June he went to London where as an intelligence officer and operations officer for the Air Force, he helped plan assaults on continental Europe and North Africa.
In late July of that year, the Allies began to implement plans for Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa. Their objective was to take French Morocco by launching a three-pronged assault at Port Lyautey to the north, Casablanca to the south, and Fedala, just north of Casablanca. As the Allies landed on the beaches, commanders would also try a diplomatic approach with Vichy French, who controlled the area. French troops whose commanders had given their oaths of loyalty to the Vichy government that was collaborating with the Germans. President Roosevelt and Gen. Dwight Eisenhower had broadcast messages urging the French not to resist, but there was no way to know if the messages had been heard. Brig. Gen. Lucian Truscott, commander of the force scheduled to land at Mehdia, about 80 miles north of Casablanca, decided on a desperate venture. He decided to send two emissaries through the French lines to locate the area commander and persuade him to cooperate.
In October Hamilton was appointed assistant chief of staff for intelligence of the task force assault on French Morocco. Truscott chose Craw and Hamilton out of many volunteers.
On Nov. 8, 1942, the operation was in full swing. Craw and Hamilton were charged with convincing the Vichy to cease fire and cooperate with the Allies. By the time the two reached the beach near Port Lyautey, French Morocco, fighting was intense. The area commander ordered Craw's mission postponed, but at the colonel's insistence, he was permitted to move forward with his mission. After commandeering a vehicle and driver Pfc. Orris Corey, Craw and Hamilton headed toward French headquarters through heavy fire from both the Allies and Vichy. They planned to go as far up the Sebou River toward Port Lyautey. However, heavy artillery fire kept them from entering the river. They finally landed on the Mehdia beach at 7:20 a.m. Strafing from French fighters kept them pinned down for some time, until they worked their way across the beach. They were pinned down again by French artillery and friendly naval gunfire. Finally, when the bombardment lifted, they passed through two French formations. Their truck flew American and French flags, as well as a flag of truce. But the truce flag couldn't guarantee their safety.
As the truck drove across a slight rise in the road, the group surprised a crew of Vichy French manning a machine gun and opened fire at close range. Corey and Hamilton were taken prisoner and driven to the French headquarters. Craw was killed. The local commander refused to order a cease-fire, but agreed to pass the message Hamilton was carrying to Major General Mathenet, commander of the North Morocco area. Hamilton wasn't allowed to contact his headquarters and was kept separated from the other prisoners because the French feared American reprisals for having killed an officer traveling under a flag of truce. After two days of heated discussions, Mathenet finally agreed to surrender. The following morning, all French troops in North Africa ceased resistance. The formal surrender took place at a meeting arranged by Hamilton.
After recommendations of Truscott, Patton and Eisenhower, the Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously to Craw and to Hamilton on Jan. 23, 1943, for a daring mission that saved many American lives. They were the first Army Air Forces recipients in the European-Mediterranean theater of World War II and the only Airmen awarded the Medal of Honor for valor not involving air combat.
His citation reads:..."For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty. On November 8, 1942, near Port Lyautey, French Morocco, Major Hamilton volunteered to accompany Colonel Demas Craw on a dangerous mission to the French commander, designed to bring about a cessation of hostilities. Driven away from the mouth of the Sebou River by heavy shelling from all sides, the landing boat was finally beached at Mehdia Plage despite continuous machine gun fire from three low flying hostile planes. Driven in a light truck toward French headquarters, this courageous mission encountered intermittent firing and as it neared Port Lyautey a heavy burst of machine gun fire was delivered upon the truck from point blank range, killing Colonel Craw instantly. Although captured immediately, after this incident, Major Hamilton completed the mission."
After this mission he was stationed in Constantine, Algiers, as intelligence and air officer with Allied Forces Headquarters in December 1942, and was later appointed the operations and intelligence staff officer for Headquarters North African Tactical Air Force.
In March 1943, he was assigned to the Office of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff for Plans, Headquarters U.S. Air Force in Washington, D.C. In January 1944, he was appointed Air Force member of the Joint Postwar Committee under the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a colonel. In November 1945, Hamilton was assigned to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Air, and a month later was relieved from active duty.
Upon recall to active duty in February 1947, he was assigned to the Plans and Operations Division with the War Department General Staff. In November 1947, he was appointed Chief, World Survey Branch with Headquarters Air Force's Directorate of Plans and Operations. In August 1948, he became Chief of the Policy Division. Temporarily promoted to brigadier general in December 1948, he was promoted permanently in September 1949. He remained the division chief until March 1951 where he became the Special Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations.
The following May he became Special Assistant for Foreign Military Affairs to the Commander in Chief for U.S. Air Forces in Europe with assignments in Wiesbaden, West Germany, and Paris. In December 1951 he was named Senior U.S. Air Force Representative with the Military Facilities Negotiating Group at Paris.
Upon return to the United States, he was assigned to the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force until March 1952 where he was relieved from active duty. He remained in the Air Force Reserve and was promoted to major general in June 1955.
His other decorations include two Legions of Merit and four Commendation Medals. The British honored him with the Order of the British Empire. He was also given the Portugese Order of Merit of Christo by the government of Portugal.
He retired as a major general in the Air Force Reserve and died at home in Santa Barbara, Calif., in 1982.
Sources of information: Joint Power Projection: Operation Torch by John Gordon IV, Air Force Historical Studies Office, and military personnel records. |
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