Alabama WWII hero turned101 on Palm Sunday, teaches Sunday School class on his birthday
By Rick Karle
Click here for updates on this story
PLEASANT GROVE, Alabama (WVTM) — Pleasant Grove, Alabama’s George Hamilton started his birthday celebration early. Hamilton turned 101 on Palm Sunday, and he did exactly what he did 80 years ago. He gave back to others.
Hamilton picked out a blue shirt and a pinstriped black suit on Sunday morning. The World War II veteran clipped on his American flag lapel pin and off he went to Bethel Baptist Church in Pleasant Grove. Off to teach Sunday School on Palm Sunday, on his 101st birthday.
George Hamilton joined the Navy in 1942 — images from Pearl Harbor the year before made him angry, yet proud.
He was stationed on the USS King in the Pacific. He survived a mishap where a ship listed 57 degrees in the ocean, another degree and it would have been over.
As a young man, Hamilton met a woman named Lynda.
“Our twelfth date was our wedding,” Hamilton told his friends.
George Hamilton accomplished many things after the war. He played some semi-pro baseball. He worked at Vulcan Materials for decades. As he lived his life, his motto was always, “Keep your feet on the ground and thank God for each day that He gives you.”
Lynda passed away over 40 years ago. She was gone by the time the tornado hit on April 27, 2011. The same tornado that leveled his Pleasant Grove house while he huddled in the basement of his son’s house just a few miles away.
Yet, there George sat in a recliner next to the rubble the following day, drawing up plans for what came next.
“Why should I feel sorry for myself?” he asked reporters. “You have to move on.”
George Hamilton was 89 years old when the tornado hit, and he has continued to accomplish a lot in the last 12 years. He completed his 11th mission trip to Nicaragua when he was 95. He still drives his beloved pick-up truck. He still playfully hangs the sign on his front door that reads, “Bama fans are welcomed” and he still teaches Sunday School at the age of 101.
The folks in Hamilton’s Sunday School class gave him a cinnamon cake and some cupcakes this morning, and while the birthday boy was appreciative, it was time to look ahead.
“Please open your Bibles,” Hamilton said as he glanced at his own copy. On a Palm Sunday when George Hamilton turned 101, there he sat at Bethel Baptist Church.
Teaching a Sunday School Class.
Giving back as always.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
