On the Front Lines: Thom Hamilton

US Navy Commander Thom Hamilton recently returned from deployment to New York City, where he worked in an ICU with COVID-19 patients at a hospital there. This work was just one example of Hamilton’s remarkable ability to take what life gives him and make the most of it.

article by Georgiann Potts | Portraits by Kelly Moore Clark

In many ways, Hamilton’s entire life has been one marked by resilience. Since childhood, he has mastered the art of survival by assessing the current situation, evaluating the available options, and then making a decision based on the facts. His very successful military, nursing, small business and political careers have all come about as a result of this approach. Even with an active work life, however, Hamilton has never lost sight of the most important thing to him — family.
CHILDHOOD MEMORIES
Not everyone’s childhood is like “The Waltons.” Multiple generations of family living in one home was not the childhood that Hamilton experienced, but there was still more than enough love to go around. He gives much credit to his sister, Debbie, for that.
Hamilton’s father, John N. Hamilton, Jr., was from Monroe. While stationed with the USAF in Germany during the Korean conflict, he met and married Renate Hautz from Munich. When he was discharged in 1958, the two moved to Monroe. Hamilton’s mother learned English and became a secretary for a West Monroe company. His father worked as a police officer and later at the West Monroe paper mill (Olin Kraft at the time). The two had 5 children in 6 years – Debbie, Bobby, Michael, Johnny and Thom. The family lived on Crescent Drive in Monroe’s southside, where new, affordable houses were being built.
The family was shocked by the untimely death of their father. Thom, the youngest of the children, was only 5. “My mother was a strong woman, and we carried on,” Hamilton remembers. “She was very spiritual, and we grew up as Christians. We were very active in our church, Southside United Methodist (now Lea Joyner Memorial UMC).”
Three years later, Hamilton’s mother was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). This was a crushing blow, but the siblings banded together to care for their mother, as she gradually lost muscle function. “It was not an ideal childhood for us, but because Mom was always in control (ALS attacks the muscles, not the brain), she was still the boss,” Hamilton says.
As their mother’s condition deteriorated, the siblings banded together to take over the household duties. They devised a schedule for caring for their mother by taking turns. “We did normal kid things like playing baseball, but we had an obligation to take care of Mom. Someone was with her 24/7,” Hamilton says. “We took turns, sometimes having to stay home from school, because the sitter could not come.”
Debbie, the oldest, gradually began managing the household, paying bills and doing those things that their mother couldn’t. When their mother died five years later, the sibling “tribe” had become a self-sufficient family unit. Because Thom was 13, his paternal grandfather was named his guardian. Although so young, because Debbie was now 19, Thom was allowed to remain home with his brothers and sister. “She was – and still is – my hero!” he says.
The children made a trip to Munich after their mother died to visit with family. They went during Christmas, and Hamilton discovered a love for snow skiing and mountains. It was the second vacation that Hamilton enjoyed as a child. The first, a driving trip through Arkansas and Missouri with his mother and relatives from El Dorado the summer after his father’s death, was fun for the five-year-old. “I thought the Marvel Cave in Silver Dollar City was the largest thing in the world, and I was in awe of it,” he says. “Went back to it with my own kids years later and discovered that it was much bigger in my memory than in reality!”
Going to the river, water skiing, camps, and just hanging out with his friends were treats for Hamilton as he grew up. His paternal grandfather was older and in poor health, so he couldn’t take Hamilton hunting or fishing. Because of that, when Hamilton was invited to go do either with his friends and their families, it meant more. Especially before their mother’s death, the family would spend holidays together with their paternal grandparents and their Great Aunt Margaret in Monroe. Hamilton loved those special family times.
The family was poor, and the children lived on Social Security for most of Hamilton’s childhood. Every penny counted. Hamilton’s first jobs when he was 13 were operating skeet shoots and trap house at a gun club. When 15, he ushered at Eastgate Cinema for one summer. That fall he began working at Louisville Imports, restocking, doing inventory control, and later, working the counter. He saved and bought his first car – a Toyota Corolla Sport coupe without air conditioning. “That was the worst decision – buying a car without AC in the south – and it was not a chick magnet in the summertime!” he remembers. When that company closed, Hamilton worked at Safeway for the remainder of high school and his first year in college.
EARLY EDUCATION MENTORS
Hamilton attended public schools. Minnie Ruffin Elementary, Jefferson Junior High, Wossman High School (grades 9 and 10), and Neville High School (grades 11 and 12) were where Hamilton learned important life lessons and met teachers who guided him when he needed it most. At Wossman, Hamilton followed brother Johnny’s lead and joined the high school wrestling team. He might have enjoyed being in the band, but he says no one pushed him in that direction. “Kids need some encouragement by parents to push them into trying things, but no one really did that for me,” he recalls. “I’m not blaming anyone – it was just the way it was.”
While at Minnie Ruffin, Mrs. Neil (4th grade teacher) encouraged Hamilton to try harder. “She knew that I could do better,” he says with a laugh. Ms. Williams, a 6th grade teacher there, was also an important encourager for Hamilton. “She was a tall African American woman whom everyone was afraid of,” Hamilton says. “When I got to 6th grade, she was my teacher. Turns out that she was the best teacher I ever had. She took an interest in me and was not willing to give up on me. She didn’t teach from intimidation, but from persistence and her belief in me. From that time on, I knew I wasn’t dumb after all and that I could learn if I were persistent enough.”
STUDYING FOR A CAREER
Hamilton’s earliest dream was to be a pilot. Today, he looks back on that and sees it as part of a plan (conscious or unconscious) for his escape into adulthood. Because he lacked both the money and grades for a professional pilot school, Hamilton enrolled at Northeast Louisiana University (now ULM). He majored in Air Traffic Control, hoping to use that to become a pilot. Both Debbie and Michael graduated from NLU, and Johnny was taking classes there. He worked on his private pilot’s license but ran out of funds before completing the work.
To earn money for college expenses, Hamilton took a job as night auditor at Monroe’s Holiday Inn Holidome. He worked there for 2 years, acquiring important accounting and guest relations skills. He also learned that he was not a night owl. His grades suffered.
By this time, his sister had married Randy Wisenor, had one child, and was expecting her second. Hamilton had “come along with the house” when his sister and Randy married, but now he felt the need to get on his own. The best option given his situation? The military.
Hamilton enlisted in the US Navy, an important decision that opened opportunities. He chose electronics for his training. Later in his Navy enlistment, he decided to pursue nursing. He tried for the Navy’s Medical Enlisted Commissioning Program (MECP) through which the Navy would send him to the college of his choice to get a nursing degree in exchange for his serving 6-years in the Navy Nurse Corps. He took some pre-nursing classes at Pensacola Junior College, but didn’t get accepted to MECP. The next year, the Navy was in draw down and Hamilton had the option of remaining or leave.
While stationed in Pensacola, Hamilton met Tonya Arrington. Just 4 months later, they were married. Together they have created a family filled with love. “We’ve gone through some tough times together, first just starting out on my enlisted pay and her minimum wage jobs,” Hamilton says. “We complement each other. Tonya is a social butterfly, and I’m not. She makes me get out of my normally introverted self.”
While in the Navy, they had 3 small children (Olivia, Corey, and Sean) and wanted to stop the frequent moves that military life required. Hamilton also realized that with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the poor US economy, Electronic Techs were a dime a dozen – and most had no jobs. He realized that nursing was a better choice because of its stability. He chose to leave active military after 9 years and pursue nursing as a civilian.
Hamilton was coming full circle. He had been part of the family team caring for their mother and had practical experience in caring for others who were ill. He took a severance package from the Navy in late 1993 and moved his family to West Monroe, so he could enroll in the NLU nursing school. In 1997, he earned his BSN and spent the next decade pursing his medical career.
NURSING AND MILITARY COMBINE
Hamilton began nursing as a telemetry floor nurse working in the ICU at night. Once again, he hated nights, so after 6 months he transferred to the APCU-post anesthesia care unit (aka Recovery Room). He worked there for a year earning the experience required to move to Surgery. He became a Circulator within surgery and found his niche. He and others began the heart program at Glenwood Medical Center and he worked in that program as well as Surgery Nurse for several years. Today, he is Charge Nurse for the Glenwood Surgery department.
Ten years after beginning nursing, Hamilton got “a random email from Naval Reserves” that caught his attention. They were looking for Peri-Op Surgery Nurses (trained for all parts of surgery – pre-op, op, and post-op) and were offering a bonus to join. Hamilton inquired, listened, and joined as a Commissioned Officer in the Navy Nurse Corps in 2004. Today, in addition to his Glenwood responsibilities, he drills at the Navy Operational Support Center Shreveport and is deployed when the Navy needs him.
Hamilton has had several deployments as part of his Navy duties. In 2010, he was deployed on the USNS Mercy serving in Indonesia islands. There he worked in surgery offering life-changing treatments for cleft palates, cataracts, hernias, GYN procedures, orthopedics and more to the local underserved population. USNS Mercy had 10 operating rooms, 1000 hospital beds, and provided not only surgical services but also medical care in dentistry, optometry and veterinary. Some worked as environmental engineers. “This was incredibly good work, done by all on board.” Hamilton recalls. “It really added to the quality of life to these communities.”
Hamilton had no idea that his next deployment would come during a worldwide pandemic.
COVID-19
By March 2020, COVID-19 was a familiar term everywhere. As elective surgeries were stopped at Glenwood and elsewhere, surgery nurses began cross training in other departments, so they could fill in where the heaviest workloads were anticipated. At the same time, Hamilton was deployed to New York City, Navy Medicine Support Team, Operation Gotham. He was assigned to Coney Island Hospital in South Brooklyn. There he worked in a makeshift COVID ICU with 14 beds. Most of his patients were on ventilators. Hamilton was the leader of his unit. In addition to patient care, his responsibilities included scheduling, preparing reports and serving as liaison between the hospital administrators and Navy leadership. His deployment was supposed to be 60 days, but when orders came, they were for 270 days. No one knew how long they might be needed.
Hamilton spent 42 days in NYC and then 16 in Portsmouth, Virginia, in quarantine before being sent home. His experience left him with a clear understanding of just how dangerous the virus is. “COVID-19 is the real deal. I have seen firsthand what it can do to a person. I know it has – and will – change some things in our life. Only if a vaccine or viable treatment comes along will we be able to return to life as we knew it,” Hamilton explains. “I have seen it attack seemingly healthy patients that did not have the co-morbidities than many of the victims have had. It scares me, and I worry about anyone who gets it.”
Just like other small business owners, Hamilton and Tonya have experienced the economic downturn that the virus has caused. Over the past 15 years, they have opened 3 businesses. Two have closed, but the Hamilton House Inn, a bed and breakfast in downtown West Monroe, remains open. “Business at the Inn came to a crawl during March and April but is steadily picking up as the economy opens in phases.”
Hamilton also has a “bigger picture” of the virus’ impact, because he serves as a West Monroe alderman. Former Mayor Dave Norris appointed him to fill a vacant City Council seat, and then Hamilton won election to the seat at the next election – and the next. He didn’t seek his political career, but he has accepted the responsibility with enthusiasm. He loves West Monroe, his home.
Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, once said, “Let us never consider ourselves finished, nurses. We must be learning all of our lives.” Thom Hamilton has done just that. Whether learning to cope with adversity or finding some way to move forward, Hamilton has indeed mastered the art of survival.