The Last Pathfinder Flies West

We share with a heavy heart the passing of Lt. Col. David Hamilton, the last Pathfinder, who was laid to rest on Sunday evening, January 5. A national treasure has flown west. Out of respect for all the veterans who have passed and those who will continue to pass, we don’t often write about the passing of specific individuals, with only a few exceptions. Dave Hamilton was unique. He was not just an icon but also an integral part of our Warbird and DC-3 Society/D-Day Squadron family.

Hamilton, the last surviving Pathfinder pilot from the Normandy Invasion, was very active with the D-Day Squadron, the DC-3 Society, and the WWII Airborne Demonstration Team (ADT). Dave participated in the 2019 and 2024 D-Day Squadron’s D-Day anniversary events. In 2019, he crossed the channel one more time onboard John Sessions’ Pan Am Airways C-47/DC-3.

D-Day veteran C-47 pilot, Lt. Col. David Hamilton, USAFR (Ret.), would have turned 104 years old on July 20, 2025. As many will know, Lt. Col. Hamilton was the last surviving Pathfinder Pilot from the Normandy invasion of June 5-6, 1944. Hamilton’s aircrew, along with their cohorts in nineteen other C-47s, received special training to accomplish the vital task of placing elite Pathfinder teams from the 82nd Airborne at precise locations along the Normandy coast in France. These Pathfinder teams were the airborne invasion force’s advanced guard, arriving in Occupied France in the opening moments of battle. Their mission was to establish and illuminate drop zones visually and electronically to help guide the rest of the invasion’s roughly 20,000 paratroopers to their positions. However, all did not go according to plan. Low cloud cover during their nighttime flight compounded the already fraught and intensely dangerous mission. Of the eighteen C-47 Pathfinder crews that made it to France, only a handful were able to drop their paratroopers near the intended drop zones. Even so, the elite paratroopers held their positions long enough for the invasion to succeed.

Following D-Day, Hamilton performed other Pathfinder missions, including Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Provence in Southern France on August 15, 1944, and Operation Market Garden over The Netherlands a month later. Additionally, Hamilton led cargo planes over Bastogne, France, to drop supplies to the 101st Airborne Division when Nazi forces surrounded them during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. After World War II, Hamilton continued his service, flying the Douglas B-26 Invader on fifty combat missions during the Korean War. For his bravery and skill, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross and five Air Medals during this conflict, adding to the four Air Medals he had already earned. Hamilton concluded his military flying career in the F-86D Sabre jet fighter, having had the extraordinary experience of participating in three radically different combat roles during his service. Lt. Col. David Hamilton’s life was a testament to courage, dedication, and excellence in aviation. He leaves a legacy that will inspire future generations—fair winds and following seas, Pathfinder. You will be deeply missed.