Honoree: Joseph J. Hamski


Joseph J. Hamski
Dates: Died May 16, 2011
Hometown: Ottumwa, IA
Branch of Service: Air Force
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Player: Gavin Aurilia

Staff Sgt. Joseph J. Hamski, 28, of Ottumwa, Iowa, was assigned to the 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. He died May 26, 2011, when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device in the Shorabak district of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.

SSgt Hamski attended Ottumwa High School where he enjoyed music, art and writing. After graduation in 2001, he briefly attended Iowa State University before joining the Air Force where he graduated in 2003 from the Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. SSgt Hamski went on to work as an explosives and demolitions engineer and trained others in how to detect and deactivate bombs. He was on his fourth deployment.

“He really found himself in the Air Force — he just blossomed into a super young man,” his grandfather, Ray Hamski said. “He was kind of a free spirit in high school, and he just wasn’t a college man. But he really shaped up in the Air Force.”

SSgt Hamski is survived by his wife, Air Force Staff Sergeant Maria Christina Hamski, a fellow EOD Technician.