Master Sergeant Hamblin was a veteran of World War II. In Korea, he was a crew member of a B-29A Superfortress Bomber with the 370th Bomber Squadron, 307th Bomber Wing. On 23 October 1951, while on a bombing mission, MiGs damaged the aircraft and the crew bailed out in the Chinnampo to Inchon area over the Yellow Sea. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on 31 December 1953. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Hamblin was awarded the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation, the Republic of Korea War Service Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.