FMus Don Edgar Hamel, USMC

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=hamel&GSfn=do...

http://missingmarines.com/2011/12/20/field-music-don-edgar-hamel/

Don Hamel was born around the year 1920. He gave his hometown as Chicago when he enlisted in the Marine Corps.

Hamel joined the Corps in 1941; after completing boot camp, he attended Field Music School. He showed some promise with the bugle, and was assigned to the Marine detachment of the USS Arizona.

Field Music Hamel – the rating Field Music is equivalent to that of private; some accounts refer to him as “Private Hamel” – arrived at the Arizona sometime in 1941. He was probably taken under the wing of the more seasoned bugler, Field Music Corporal Jack B. Sniff, and was eventually allowed to stand regular duty as a ship’s musician.

Don Hamel was the duty field music on December 7, 1941. As the first Japanese bullets bit into the Arizona’s deck and ricocheted off her armor, Field Music Hamel brought his bugle to his mouth to sound the Air Defense call – “a strident series of short notes that were guaranteed to get everyone’s attention.” Minutes later, Hamel blew General Quarters, calling the battleship’s sailors and Marines to action. (1) It would be his first and last contribution to the Second World War, but none of the battleship’s survivors would ever forget Don Hamel’s calls during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Hamel was killed when the Arizona sank; his remains were never recovered.

https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=hamel&GSfn=d...