The San Diego Air & Space Museum is remembering International Air & Space Hall of Fame member David Hamilton, the “Last of the Pathfinders” who paved the way for numerous famous allied invasions during World War II

San Diego, CA -- The San Diego Air & Space Museum is remembering World War II Pathfinder David Hamilton, who was inducted into the prestigious International Air & Space Hall of Fame in 2019. Hamilton passed away on January 5, 2025 at the age of 102.
 
Since 1963, the International Air & Space Hall of Fame has honored the world’s most significant pilots, crew members, visionaries, inventors, aerospace engineers, business leaders, preservationists, designers and space explorers. Hamilton entered the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in 2019.
 
“Aviation and space exploration, as embodied by the honorees in the International Air & Space Hall of Fame, directly represents the human pioneering and exploring spirit. David Hamilton and the Pathfinders were a rare, courageous breed of men who answered the call of duty in our greatest hour of need,” said Jim Kidrick, President & CEO of the San Diego Air & Space Museum. “He was an American hero and a true gentleman. The San Diego Air & Space Museum mourns his loss while remembering him fondly for his incredible achievements. Our thoughts are with him and his family.”
 
On June 5, 1944, twenty C-47s carrying almost 300 specially trained paratroopers, known as the Pathfinders, were dropped behind enemy lines in Normandy. The Pathfinders were divided into 18 teams, one team per aircraft. Within each team, nine to fourteen men were signaling specialists, with radio sets and signal lanterns, with four to six men protecting the drop zone from the enemy. Once on the ground, their mission was to use their radios and lanterns to guide Allied aircraft onto the target areas, preparing for the airborne assault of some 13,000 paratroopers expected within an hour.
 
One of these aircraft was flown by David Hamilton. Born in Watford, England in 1922, Hamilton spent his early years in Paris, before returning to New York City at age six. In 1942, Hamilton enlisted in the USAAF, graduating from pilot training with Class 43-C in Waco, Texas. Hamilton and the Pathfinders would later take part in the August 1944 invasion of Southern France, as well as the massive September daylight landings in Holland. Pathfinders from the 101st Airborne Division also jumped into Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, using their beacons and lights to facilitate supply drops. Hamilton led that operation in a formation of 27 C-47s, of which only nine returned.
 
As a civilian after the war, Hamilton flew C-47s and C-54s with Transair, a non-scheduled airline, as well as with American Overseas Airlines, where he flew Constellations. With the Korean War, he returned to the USAF in 1950 and flew with Military Air Transport Service. He served in Korea from June 1950 to November 1952, flying 51 missions in B-26 aircraft. His final active duty billet was Operations Officer of Air Evacuation at Bolling AFB. In 1953, he transferred from active duty to the reserves, serving with the Eastern Air Defense Command until retiring in 1964. He worked as an executive with a well-known food and liquor distributor. He entered the prestigious International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in 2019.
 
The International Air & Space Hall of Fame is the most prestigious induction of its kind in the world and is composed of hundreds of air and space pioneers, engineers, inventors and innovators, along with adventurers, scientists and industry leaders. NASA Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts and Russian cosmonauts are honored in the Hall, as well as famous legends such as the Wright Brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Neil Armstrong and Amelia Earhart. Notable inductees also include Buzz Aldrin, Igor Sikorsky, Wernher von Braun, Jack Northrop, Jackie Cochran, William Boeing, Sr., Reuben H. Fleet, Glenn Curtiss, Walter Zable Sr., Fran Bera, Wally Schirra, Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, T. Claude Ryan, Jimmy Doolittle, Bob Hoover, Ellen Ochoa, Peggy Whitson, Linden Blue, Patty Wagstaff, and many more.

See the following link: http://sandiegoairandspace.org/exhibits/online-exhibit-page/international-air-space-hall-of-fame.