Army Spc. Adam S Hamilton

Remember Our Heroes

Army Spc. Adam S Hamilton, 22, of Kent, Ohio

Spc. Hamilton was assigned to the 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.; died May 28, 2011 in Haji Ruf, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

SPC Hamilton was on night patrol when an improvised explosive device detonated. He died from wounds sustained in the blast. He had only been deployed two months.

SPC Hamilton graduated in 2007 from Kent Roosevelt Hight School, where he played football, hockey and lacrosse. He continued his lacrosse career at a junior college in Maryland.

"He went off to college to play lacrosse," said father, Scott Hamilton. "[Then] he called me one day and said, 'Dad, I'm going to go serve our country.' And I struggled with that...a lot. And we came to peace with that, and I supported him, and he went into the army."

It was truly his calling, " his father, Scott Hamilton said. "He said, [college] just wasn't for me,' "We differed about it. He was a gifted athlete, he was a leader and he had thing he could do in business.

SPC Hamilton told people that he wanted to join the Army for one reason: to be a part of that team and to be a leader in it. "He truly wanted to serve his country", his father said, "He really loved it."

Scott Hamilton says his son was always strong and athletic, and saw the U.S. Army as the ultimate team. "It's gotten so bad, he was scared. And that's not his style. My little boy's not afraid anymore; he's in a good place, but he will be missed... greatly."

SPC Hamilton's last post on Facebook, just three days before he was killed, "I hate sandstorms! hopefully a month till I get a break from this...still praying and thanking god every morning and night before I go to bed to still let me be here and fight this fight..."

When SPC Hamilton’s 12-year-old sister had asked her parents what the meaning of Memorial Day was, “We told her, and she says, ‘Well, we don’t do as much as we should, and we have a brother that’s over there,’” Scott said. “Boy, I guess she really understands the meaning of it now.”

“He enjoyed camaraderie,” his mother, Nancy, said. “He wanted to do something that would make him feel like he was doing something for others.”

Nancy said the moment she was proudest of her son was when he enlisted. “That was his decision, and his decision was final, and he carried that out,” she said. “That was a very difficult decision, and he stuck to it.”

“He sacrificed his life for it,” Scott said. “But it was his way. It was what he wanted.”

His mother agreed, saying, “That was what was in his heart.”

He talked with his mom about going shopping for clothes, and he talked with his dad about a planned trip together to the Myrtle Beach area.

“He just wanted to come home and hang out with his family,” Scott said.

“His smile lit up a room when he walked in,” Scott said. “I’ve got so many pictures around the house right now and hanging up of Adam, and every single one of them had that loving smile.”

“He was just an inspiration to so many,” Scott said. “The day he came into this world, he changed my life, and the day he left he’s changed it even more, and it’s made me a better person already. Adam was a gifted child. We were very fortunate he was given to us."

Thinking about life without Adam, his mother said she knew what she was going to miss the most. “His face,” Krestan said. “I’m going to miss his face and his voice.”

Kent Mayor Jerry Fiala had ordered all flags at municipal buildings or on municipal grounds be lowered to half-staff in accordance with the city's flag policy and remain at half-staff until after Hamilton's funeral.

Spc Hamilton is survived by his mother, Nancy; father, Scott, and sister.

Army Spc. Adam S Hamilton was killed in action on 5/28/11.