Jack Hamlin was born in Springfield Mo in 1921. He graduated from Central High School and enrolled in Drury University in Springfield, in 1939. Hamlin was able to play in the minor leagues for the New York Yankees farm club in Joplin MO. Then the war started and Hamlin like most men enlisted in the service. He did not qualify to serve because of a childhood sickness so he joined the Coast Guard, thinking he'd stay in the US to defend our home land. This was not true and Hamlin soon found himself crossing the English Channel on June 6, 1944 - D-Day. A personal recollection of his service is in attached documents. Courtesy of ozarksalive.com