Gene Hambleton was born on November 16, 1918, in Rossvile, Illinois. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces on July 2, 1943, and served as an aircraft and engine mechanic before entering the Aviation Cadet Program for Navigator training in March 1944. Hambleton received his commission as a 2d Lt and was awarded his Navigator wings on March 24, 1945, and left active duty and entered the Air Force Reserve on February 21, 1946. He was recalled to active duty on December 26, 1950, and served as a B-29 Superfortress navigator on 43 combat missions during the Korean War. Capt Hambleton next served as a Radar Observer training instructor from June 1953 to January 1956, followed by service as a Targeting Intelligence Officer from January 1956 to September 1958. He served as a B-47 Stratojet navigator-bombardier with the 96th Bomb Wing at Dyess AFB, Texas, from October 1958 to April 1959, and with the 339th Bomb Squadron at Dyess from April 1959 to July 1961. Maj Hambleton attended the Titan II ballistic missile launch officer course at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, from July 1961 to May 1962, followed by service as a Launch Missile Officer and then Launch Commander with the United States Logistics Group Turkey at Cigli AB, Turkey, from May 1962 to August 1963. His next assignment was as an ICBM Missile Launch Officer and Missile Combat Crew Commander with the 569th Strategic Missile Squadron at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, from August 1963 to June 1965, and then as an ICBM Missile Combat Crew Commander with the 571st Strategic Missile Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, from June 1965 to February 1967. Lt Col Hambleton served as an ICMB Missile Combat Crew Commander and then as a Sector Commander with the 570th Strategic Missile Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB from February 1967 to December 1968, followed by service as Assistant Deputy Commander for Operations for the 390th Strategic Missile Wing at Davis-Monthan from December 1968 to March 1970. His next assignment was as Commander of the 571st Strategic Missile Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB from March 1970 to September 1971, when he deployed to Southeast Asia. Lt Col Hambleton served as an EB-66 electronic warfare aircraft navigator with the 42nd Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron at Korat Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, from September 1971 until he was forced to eject over an enemy-controlled area of South Vietnam on April 2, 1972. He evaded capture for 10 days before being rescued by a U.S. Navy SEAL and a South Vietnamese Sea Commando on the night of April 12, 1972. After returning to the United States, Lt Col Hambleton served as Executive Officer of the 390th Strategic Missile Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB from May 1972 until his retirement from the Air Force on March 1, 1973. Gene Hambleton died on September 19, 2004, and was buried at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois.