Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Private First Class Robert Monroe Hammonds was born on January 9, 1926, the second of six children of Rufus D. and Jettie T. Hammonds. A native of Wickliffe, Kentucky, he attended Wickliffe High School and was a member of the First Baptist Church. As the oldest son of a farmer, he had the opportunity to defer military service, but chose not to. As a young man he stood six feet one inch tall and weighed 126 lbs. During World War II he was an infantry soldier who served as a wireman assigned to G Comapny, 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division. He fought with the Century Division as it endured six straight months of combat beginning in the Lower Vosges Mountains of France. Private First Class Hammonds was killed April 11, 1945 near Heilbronn, Germany. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart for his sacrificing his life in defense of his country and the Silver Star for Gallantry in Action. The citation reads: "After seven days and nights of hazardous and almost unremitting efforts to maintain wire communications during bitter house-to-house fighting for the City of Heilbronn, Private Hammonds courageously volunteered to complete installation of a wire line within full view of the enemy. Well aware of the great danger involved, He unhesitatingly exposed himself to direct hostile observation and fire, and had just completed his task when he was struck and mortally wounded by a sniper's bullet. The personal courage and great devotion to duty which he thus displayed exemplify the finest ideals of the Armed Services."

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