Documentary about fallen WWII airman from Monongahela to be shown

By KRISTIE LINDEN
klinden@yourmvi.com

Earlier this year, the Mon Valley came together to welcome one of its heroes home and this fall residents will have another opportunity to honor Sgt. Vernon Hamilton’s memory.
Hamilton, of Monongahela, was a young Army Air Force sergeant who went missing when his plane was shot down in 1945. He was 19 at the time. In December 2018, he was found in Germany wearing his Monongahela Class of 1943 ring, though he did not graduate because he enlisted to serve in World War II.
Monongahela Area Historical Society President Laura Magone told Ringgold School Board members recently that David Solomon, also a Monongahela native who is now an executive producer at WQED TV, is putting the finishing touches on a documentary about Hamilton.
“Sgt. Hamilton: The Long Journey” will premiere on PBS on Nov. 7. Solomon has asked the historical society to set up a local screening after that premiere for the documentary and Magone approached the school board to see if the Ringgold School District would like to host it.
Superintendent Megan Marie Van Fossan said Magone has submitted all the necessary paperwork and it will be ready for the board to vote on during the October meeting. Van Fossan said because the district’s newest technology is in the new middle school’s auditorium the screening will be held there.
“Since we’re sponsoring it, we’ll be able to put our logo on that and promote it on our social media and it would be a great experience,” Van Fossan said, adding that she hopes high school students attend the screening and even some middle schoolers.
Magone said the event, once officially set after the board’s vote next month, will be free for people to attend.

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