When their country needed them most …eight brothers from Chicopee proudly answered the call to service.
         Almost 70 years ago…seven sons from the Hamel Family served during World War Two…and the 8th brother waited for his turn in Korea.
        Two of the surviving brothers…Raymond and Roland Hamel…joined us in studio as part of our Memorial Day observance.
       They brought along a collage of pictures of the eight who served: Armand, Jerry, Rene, Romeo, Raymond, Sylvio, Roland and Norman.       The first seven served in the Army, Navy and Coast Guard during WWII…Norman had to wait for a few more years before he joined the Marines in Korea.   

        Eight brothers fighting for their country.    One of them, Romeo, never came back.    He was a paratrooper who was killed in combat in Holland…after many missions.   His remains are still there today.
       89 year old Raymond says his brother Romeo was a dreamer, a mystic.  He said “Maybe that’s one of the reasons he volunteered the way he did and died for his country.    Because that’s what mysticism is…a debt for a cause worth dying for.”

      Raymond says it was love of country that made them do it.     It’s the love of his life.

      84 year old Roland said “We all chose to do what we did…to the best of our ability.”

     Two brothers …from the eight who served from the Hamel family…perfect representatives of the Greatest Generation.

 To watch this interview: http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/mobile/wwlp_local_8brotherswhofoughtfortheircountry_200905221350