Online Source: http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/winn/obits/h/hammonrl.txt
Extracted from The Winn Parish Enterprise (Winnfield, LA)
Robert L. Hammonds First Winn Man Killed In Korean Conflict
New[s] of Winn Parish's first fatality in the Korean War was received Friday of
last week by Mr. and Mrs. C. L. Hammonds of Winnfield. Their son, Master
Sergeant Robert L. Hammonds, 33, had been killed in action August 8, according
to a message from the war department.
Sgt. Hammonds was with the 24th Infantry Division which was commanded by Major
General William Dean, now missing in action. He was with the first group sent
into action in the Korean conflict by General McArthur.
M/Sgt. Hammonds had been in service 13 years, having first entered in March,
1937. During World War Two he served in the European Theater, was wounded in
Holland, and spent a number of months in a hospital in England. Following the
end of that conflict he re-enlisted and was sent to Japan where he served
(illegible) years. After his return home he re-enlisted again, and was again
sent to Japan in April of last year. His wife, the former Ernestine
Fredericks, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Fredericks of Winnfield, and his
three-year-old daughter, Connie Lee, joined him in Japan last December. They
are still in Japan and no word has been received from them since word of the
death of Sgt. Hammonds. Arrangements had been made for the return of Mrs.
Hammonds and daughter to the States prior to the death of Sgt. Hammonds, but
the legal papers had been lost and the delay in their return had resulted.
Besides his wife and daughter in Japan, Sgt. Hammonds is survived by his
mother, and his father, who is custodian of the Winn Parish courthouse; one
sister, Mrs. Edwin Poole, Winnfield; six brothers, Sgt. Iris L. Hammonds of
Camp Rucker, Ala., Leo of Big Lake, Texas; Dewey, Aubrey, Cloyce, and Tony,
all of Winnfield.
Near the close of World War II, all six of Mr. and Mrs. Hammond's sons were in
service.
Thursday, August 31, 1950