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| Charles W. Hammond
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| NO. 17499 • 9 September 1926 – 31 May 1991
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Died in Fairfax, VA
Interred in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
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CHARLES "CHUCK" WILBUR HAMMONDwas born in Terre Haute, IN. He attended
elementary and secondary schools in California, and during 1944 ‑46 he
enlisted in the Navy and the Army. It was from the Army’s preparatory school at
Amherst College and Ft. Benning that he received his appointment to USMA and
enteredwith the Class of '50 in July
1946.
Chuck was my closest friend at
West Point. We remained special friends after graduation, although our paths
did not cross often. I always will miss him in a special way - his annual birthday
cards; and the way that he, Marj, and my wife, Barbara, and I would fall back
into an easy closeness at reunions as if we had never been separated. But that
was Chuck. He faced even the smallest personal responsibilities with the same
sense of dedication that most of us reserve for our most important professional
duties.
Chuck and I first became close
friends during our Yearling summer at Buckner when we were on the engineering
detail together and had the rare privilege of having our very own jeep for our
travels. We laughed a lot and took full advantage of our
"convertible." More than once, Chuck’s sense of humor was a great
comfort to me.
Chuck had an excellent West
Point record. He did well in academics, won a varsity letter for four years of
soccer, was a lieutenant on the brigade staff, and chaired the Special Events
Committee.
We both chose Air Force after
graduation. Chuck earned his navigator's wings and was assigned to a
strategic bomb wing at Travis AFB, CA,
during 1951‑52. It was there that he met and married Marj. In 1953, he was transferred to Mountain Home
AFB, where he served as Assistant Chief of Operations for a Strategic Air
Command Medium Bomb Wing.
Chuck had two outstanding
careers ‑ in the Air Force and, after retirement, in executive business
management. In 1958, he was assigned to the new Air Force Academy Spanish
Department, after earning a master's degree from the University of Texas. In
1962, he became a Squadron Tactical Officer in charge of the officer training
of a cadet squadron.
In 1964, Chuck was assigned as
Chief of Liaison for the Joint U.S. Military Group in Spain. He received the
Joint Services Commendation Ribbon for his accomplishments there.
In 1969, Chuck was assigned to Air Force Headquarters in
the Pentagon, where he remained until his retirement as a colonel six years
later. His career in Washington was exemplary, and for his accomplishments he was awarded two Legions of Merit and
the Distinguished Service Medal.
Chuck’s first assignment in
Washington was as Legislative Liaison for the Office of Secretary of the Air
Force. He was responsible
for oral and written responses to inquiries from members of congress from ten states. From this position,
he was promoted to Branch Chief, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force,
where he was responsible for substantive responses to inquiries from the White
House and Office of the Vice President.
In 1971, Chuck was assigned as
Deputy Director of Legislative Liaison, Office of the Secretary of Defense. He
worked with congressional committees, and arranged appearances of defense
witnesses. He performed similar functions for the Assistant Secretary of
Defense, Intelligence, the joint Staff, and the Director of the Defense
Intelligence Agency. He prepared White House staff briefings. Chuck’s last
assignment in Washington was as Special Assistant for Legislative Affairs to
the Assistant Secretary of Defense. He served as principal liaison between
congress and the three military departments.
Chuck Hammond retired from the
Air Force in 1975 and immediately joined Sperry Corporation, where he served as
a manager in Minneapolis for a year and a half and then in Bonn, Germany for
seven years, in charge of Defense Systems. In 1984, he was transferred to
Washington as Director of International Operations in the Computer Division.
After Unisys acquired Sperry, he became a vice president of that corporation.
Chuck fought off cancer for
several years, and when we met at our class reunion in the summer of 1990, he
had hopes that he was in remission. But upon returning from an overseas
business trip in 1991, he became seriously ill and passed away in May of that
year.
Chuck’s wonderful wife,
Marjorie H. Hammond, a lovely lady and the mother of their two daughters,
Daphne and Janet, passed away on 4 Nov 1997 in Washington, DC. Chuck and Marj
are survived by their two daughters.
I, and dozens of friends from
Chuck's Air Force and business careers, will miss them terribly. They were two
rare class acts.
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USMA 1950