Edward S. Hamilton

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Edward Smith Hamilton (March 21, 1917 – June 30, 2006) was an American army officer in World War II and later a CIA operative. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1939. Two days after D-Day, he led a battalion of the 90th Infantry Division at Normandy and defended a key bridge, earning the Silver Star. On September 8, 1944, he and his troops disabled four German tanks and captured 17 soldiers; he received the Distinguished Service Cross for this action. He lost his left eye two days later in combat and earned three Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star. In 1950, he joined the CIA, directing covert operations from Taiwan against mainland China. His exploits are described in Raiders of the China Coast by Frank Holober. He later did undercover counterintelligence work in East Germany and Turkey until 1959. France awarded him the Legion of Honor in 2005. He died in 2006 in Annandale, Virginia, from pneumonia.