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WWI Era Heroes Memorial Dedicated
James Rada, Jr.
Marines marched
through Emmitsburg
in 1922 on their
way to Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania. They
were fully outfitted
in preparation for a
historical reenactment
and training maneuvers
on the battlefield. The
event turned tragic for
two of the Marines
when their plane crashed
on the battlefield, killing
both men on board.
On June 26, 2018,
a memorial wayside,
erected in Gettysburg to
honor Marine Captain
George W. Hamilton, a
highly-decorated World
War I Marine officer,
and Gunnery Sergeant
George R. Martin, was dedicated
before a small crowd.
Marine Captain Hamilton, of
World War I fame, survived the
bloody Battle of Belleau Wood in
1918 (also known as the “Germans’
Gettysburg”), with honors, only to
perish in a dive bomber crash on the
Gettysburg Battlefield during Marine
maneuvers held in 1922, along with
Gunnery Sergeant Martin, a veteran
of the Santo Domingo campaign.
On June 26, 1922, Captain
Hamilton was piloting a de
Havilland dive bomber over
Gettysburg battlefield, with
Martin, at the head of the column
of 5,500 Marines arriving for
training maneuvers and Civil War
reenactments, when their airplane
crashed while attempting to land
www.TheCatoctinBanner.com The Catoctin Banner Newspaper August 2018 Page 21
Last to Fall: The
1922 March,
Battles, & Deaths
of U.S. Marines
at Gettysburg,
happened to run
into his neighbor,
Ronald Frenette,
who became the
project manager
of the memorial
wayside. Both men
live near the crash
and talked about
it. “Rick said
we really should
have a memorial
for them, and the
project was born,”
said Frenette.
The memorial’s
Photo taken of Memorial Wayside near the 1922 crash site in Gettysburg, Courtesy of James Rada, Jr. creation is the
result of the
on the Culp Farm, killing both She said that the Heritage Center efforts of Frenette, Fulton, Mike
aviators. supported the project because it Tallent, Marine Corps League
The deaths of the aviators were “tells a story beyond the typical Gettysburg Battlefield Detachment
declared as line-of-duty deaths, Civil War story.” #705, and the Gettysburg Heritage
resulting in their being the last such The memorial is on property Center.
deaths to have occurred on the near the crash site and donated by The memorial wayside is located
historic battlefield since the 1863 the Gettysburg Heritage Center. at the corner of Culp Street and
battle itself. The project began when Richard Johns Avenue, near the 1922 crash
As part of the event, Pennsylvania D. L. Fulton, co-author of The site.
Governor Tom Wolf has issued
a proclamation declaring June
26, 2018, as Captain George W.
Hamilton and Gunnery Sergeant
George R. Martin Remembrance
Day “in grateful recognition of
their military service.”
Tammy Myers, president of
the Gettysburg Heritage Center,
said that the project to erect the
memorial “was initiated and
brought to us by our neighbors.”