Sergeant Hamilton was a member of the 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in South Korea on 6 July 1950, forced to march to North Korea on the "Tiger Death March", and died while a prisoner at Camp 3 near Chang-Song, North Korea on 5 February 1952.

Hamilton was awarded the Prisoner of War Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.