Hamel said a major cause of the defeat of American forces in Vietnam was negative reporting by the national media outlets.

“General Giap, who was the commander of the North Vietnamese forces, said the American forces had them on their backs. They were ready to quit because of the bombing of Hanoi, but anti-war reporting in the press convinced our citizens we were fighting a losing war, and Washington called off the bombing. That gave the communists the break they needed and, man, they took it away from us. They just figured the Americans were going to quit, and if they waited long enough they were going to beat us, and that’s exactly what they did.”

Nguyen Giap was the National Liberation Front’s most senior military commander in the Vietnam War. As a commander, Giap was willing to mix his tactics between classic guerrilla warfare and conventional attacks, as was seen in the 1968 Tet Offensive, according to the History Learning Web site.

Hamel flew missions in Vietnam from 1967 to 1970 and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and nine air medals for missions he survived. In 1970, he was assigned to Princeton University to close the ROTC detachment there because anti-war professors and press reports convinced the campus administration the military didn’t belong there. Hamel said he was so well-liked by students there that he was voted the second top-ranking instructor at Princeton.

The general in charge of the ROTC program was so impressed with his performance at Princeton he decided to keep Hamel in ROTC, assigning him in 1971 to open the AFROTC detachment at Valdosta State College. The ROTC unit he started at VSC still exists as a premier unit of officer preparation for the United States Air Force.

During that time, Hamel served as chairman of the Americanism Committee and the committee to support veterans in hospitals. He was in the first Elks class initiated into the Elks Club on Baytree Road. He was also active in Kiwanis and headed a church group.

In 1973, following America’s Vietnam withdrawal, he was reassigned to fly a C-130 gunship in Thailand, protecting American assets in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. A year later, he was assigned to Air University at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, Ala., “re-bluing commanding officers,” or teaching wing and base commanders how to deal with people and base organizing contingencies.

“All the experience of these guys coming in to take over as wing and base commanders was in flying, and now they had to learn to deal with people and running a base. A base commander is like a mayor of a town. They need people skills.”

He returned to Valdosta in 1977, assigned to Moody AFB as the human relations director on the commander's staff. He became an officer in the Elks Lodge and, later, exalted ruler (president) of the Valdosta Elks. He worked with local agencies, was active in the Chamber of Commerce, and served on several local boards. He retired from the Air Force in 1979, accepting a position as executive director of the Valdosta United Way, a post he held for 14 years. His main job with the United Way was trying to explain to the community what the United Way was all about, what it was doing for the community and why it was so important.

“A lot of folks just think the United Way is looking for money and don’t understand that they’re supporting a lot of agencies, and even more agencies now than when I was there,” he said.

He left the United Way to serve as director of the 2000 Partnership for education reform but said he was relieved of that position in 1995 for suggesting that Valdosta preferred football to good education. That same year he entered Valdosta Technical College to study nursing. He graduated with honors in 1996 and began working at Valdosta State Prison. He said he treated his patients as people, not as prisoners, and they treated him as a friend and professional caretaker. He retired from nursing in 1999 when working the night shift at the prison proved too taxing.

A chronology of Hamel’s life and accomplishments really doesn’t do him justice because he’s one of those people blessed with what we call personality. He’s a natural storyteller and loves a good joke. I lived on Patterson Street for a time and remember him as a crossing guard when Sallas-Mahone school was still located on Patterson Street.

Hamel said former Valdosta police commander Johnny Fason tapped him for the crossing guard position when a veteran crossing guard retired. The corner of Patterson Street and Woodrow Wilson Drive was a busy intersection and Fason wanted someone reliable to direct the traffic and school buses and help the kids across. In typical fashion, Hamel had fun with the job and made friends with those he came in contact with. Someone reported that the crossing guard at that particular intersection was dancing in the street. He was honored as top crossing guard of the year.

Hamel said that in 2007, as an active Catholic at St. John the Evangelist Church, he attended the South Georgia Walk to Emmaus #70, a Protestant weekend similar to the Catholic Cursillo Movement, and was transformed from a practicing Catholic to a committed one. He now attends Mass and reads the scriptures daily and visits people in hospitals and nursing homes. He serves as chairman of the Sickness and Distress Committee of the Elks Lodge and pays daily caring visits to Elks members and their families and folks from his church who need attention.

He said Anita, his wife of 56 years, continues to support his efforts today as she did during his 24 years in the military. She had to be both mom and dad when he was off flying for training or in combat. He said she taught their children to roller skate, ice skate, and play basketball, a sport she excelled at in high school. She taught the boys how to play tennis, baseball and bowling. He said she still bowls even though her average is down a bit. She also loves reading and continues to support him in his ministry to folks who are lonely and handicapped.