Monongahela World War II hero film debuts at Ringgold

By Kristie Linden
klinden@yourmvi.com
When Sgt. Vernon Hamilton left Monongahela in 1943 to serve his country, he was a 17-year-old who hadn’t yet graduated from high school.
Vern was a 19-year-old Army Air gunner mechanic when his A-26 bomber was hit by enemy fire while he was on a mission from France to Germany on March 21, 1945. His plane and his remains were declared unrecoverable soon after.
This spring, his remains finally returned home to rest alongside his mother.
Last night, his story was told in Ringgold School District’s middle school and Vern finally received his diploma.
His niece Shelley Hamilton Atkins accepted the diploma on his behalf in front of her family members and a packed auditorium there for the premiere of the WQED documentary of “Homecoming: Sgt. Hamilton’s Long Journey.”
The 30-minute documentary is emotional and packed with so much information it seems impossible that it fits in such a compact time space.

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