World War II Dad | World War II Father Tears Track

George Franklin Hamilton Sr. drove Sherman tanks during World War II, and his duty stations included some of the most prominent on the European front, including the invasion of Normandy and Battle of the Bulge.

He was with part of the 2nd Armored Division, known as “Hell on Wheels,” and the group was the first American division to enter Berlin.

While he thought it was important to tell the history of the conflict, which involved the vast majority of the world’s countries, “my dad did not glorify the war,” said Brenda Hynson, who majored in history at the University of Mary Washington. She’s keenly aware that Sept. 2, 2020, marked the 75th anniversary of the end of the war.

Before her father’s death in 2008, he and family members traveled to Europe twice to visit places he’d been as a young tank driver during his service, from 1942–45.