The Daily Citizen, Dalton, GA

Local News

Related Photos

  • Shell casings fly into the air as members of American Legion Post 112 prepare to fire another round in a 21-gun salute at the funeral of Max Hammontree Thursday. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen

    DSC_8274.jpg

  • American Legion Post 112 members Sheldon Grant, left, Don Rich, middle, and Don Gray, right, fold the American flag which draped the casket of Max Hammontree at the conclusion of his funeral Thursday. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen

    _DSC0521.jpg

  • American Legion Post 112 members Sheldon Grant, left, and Don Gray, right, lift the American flag which draped the casket of Max Hammontree at the conclusion of his funeral Thursday. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen

    _DSC0519.jpg

  • Don Gray, left, and other members of American Legion Post 112 fire a 21-gun salute Thursday at the funeral for Max Hammontree. Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen

    DSC_8278.jpg

Discussion

Welcome to our online comments feature. To join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address. Once you do, your comments will post automatically. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean. We reserve the right to remove comments that are obscene, racist or abusive and statements that are false or unverifiable. Repeat offenders will be blocked. You may flag objectionable comments for review by a moderator.
comments powered by Disqus
February 10, 2012

‘My war hero friend’

Rocky Face mourns World War II POW

Mark Millican markmillican@daltoncitizen.com

When the B-17 Superfortress bomber Max Hammontree was flying in caught flak during a mission over Germany and the engines burst into flame, he didn’t know if he’d be able to escape from the top turret where he manned a .50 caliber machine gun.

“The bomber went into a flat spin and it was keeping the crew inside from parachuting out,” said the Rev. Danny Goss at Hammontree’s funeral in Rocky Face on Thursday. “They finally got out but the pilot was trapped inside the cockpit because of the force. When the plane exploded the pilot was blown clear and they all parachuted to safety.”

But the crew was captured immediately, and Hammontree spent the remainder of the war in German prisoner of war camps, Goss said at Julian Peeples Funeral Home.

Hammontree — who became a valued friend — didn’t like to dwell on his POW experience, Goss added.

“About all he ever said was they moved around a lot from camp to camp, and he was cold and hungry much of the time,” said Goss. “Then he would just stop talking about it. I never saw him angry or mad, but he would get miffed when I would introduce him to someone as my ‘war hero friend.’ He’d turn his head and mutter, ‘Here we go again.’”

Judy Johnson of the Department of Veteran Services office in Dalton said Hammontree was believed to be one of the last area POWs not just of World War II, but of any war of U.S. involvement since then.

“I keep track of those and have the information in my office,” she said. “Someone else may have moved into the area, but I believe Mr. Hammontree was our last local veteran to have been a prisoner of war.”

Goss said Hammontree “stepped up to the plate” when duty called him to defend his country, and again when he married his sweetheart Evelyn, or “Tizzy,” as she was known in the community.

“There was something special about Max — his heart,” Goss said. “Tears would well up in his eyes when he talked about Tizzy.”

The Rev. Jim Brinkley said Hammontree’s faith carried him through trials even after his POW experience. He struggled with cancer for awhile.

“He reminds me of a scripture, ‘The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,’” Brinkley quoted. “I  heard so many people at visitation (Wednesday) night say, ‘He was a good man.’ But just because God orders our steps doesn’t mean we won’t face difficulties in life. When we go through things in life we can get better or grow bitter. Max chose to get better.”

Rocky Face friend James Leonard confirmed that Hammontree didn’t like to talk about the time his plane was shot down, but said he and his wife, Jane, used to drive to Edna’s Restaurant in Chatsworth to eat out with the Hammontrees.

“He and Dual Broadrick were both POWs from the Westside area,” he said. “Max was a mechanic at the Cadillac dealership in Chattanooga, and he enjoyed just riding around — sometimes all the way to Ellijay and Blue Ridge. He was an honest and an honorable man.”

Sybil Campbell of the American Legion Post 112 Auxiliary said when she was trying to get biographical info on Dalton-area vets, Hammontree was reticent.

“He would just really rather not talk about it,” she recalled. “He’d say, ‘That’s in the past.’ Every year we’d give our POWs and veterans gifts and he’d say, ‘I don’t deserve this.’ I said, ‘You deserve everything you can get.’ He was a sweetheart, and I never heard him say anything bad about anybody. He’s really going to be missed.”

Text Only
Local News