Eric M. Hammel (June 29, 1946 – August 25, 2020)[2] was a military historian, with a focus on the military campaigns of the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific War, and other military action in World War II as well as military conflicts including the Vietnam War and the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Hammel wrote a series of books about World War II Flying Aces but his most influential book was The Root : The Marines in Beirut, August 1982-February 1984 on the subject of the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings.

Eric M. Hammel
Born
Eric Maxwell Hammel

(1946-06-29)June 29, 1946
DiedAugust 25, 2020(2020-08-25) (aged 74)
EducationAttended C. W. Post College, 1964
Temple University, B.S. (journalism), 1972
Alma materCentral High School of Philadelphia, January 1964
Occupation(s)Author and Publisher
Known forWriter on Military History, especially the U.S. Marine Corps
Notable workThe Root : The Marines in Beirut, August 1982-February 1984
Awards1981, Retail Advertisers' Conference, for radio advertisement for Kennedy Business Machines
1985, Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association Award of Merit, for The Root
Websitewww.erichammelbooks.com
Notes

Hammel worked in several occupations before he settled on writing and publishing. He was formerly a stringer and contributing editor to Leatherneck Magazine.[3] He owned and operated a publishing business under the names Pacifica Press and Pacifica Military History. He died on August 25, 2020, of Parkinson's disease.

Bibliography

edit
  • Hammel, Eric; introduction by Shepherd, Jr., Lemuel C. (1981). Chosin: Heroic Ordeal of the Korean War. New York: Vanguard Press. ISBN 0-8149-0856-X. LCCN 81016089.
  • Porter, R. Bruce; Hammel, Eric; introduction by Boyington, Pappy (1985). Ace! : a Marine night-fighter pilot in World War II (1st ed.). Pacifica, Calif.: Pacifica Press. ISBN 0-935553-01-0. LCCN 86151862.
  • Hammel, Eric M. (1985). The root : the marines in Beirut, August 1982-February 1984 (1st ed.). San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. ISBN 0-15-179006-X. LCCN 85000805.
  • Hammel, Eric M. and John E. Lane (1985). 76 hours : the invasion of Tarawa (1st ed.). Pacifica, Calif.: Pacifica Press. ISBN 0-935553-00-2. LCCN 86152009.

Memberships

edit
  • Marine Corps Historical Foundation
  • Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association
  • Marine Corps Association
  • The Chosin Few (honorary founder)
  • Second Marine Division Association
  • Guadalcanal Campaign Veterans

Notes

edit
  1. ^ "Eric Maxwell Hammel". Contemporary Authors Online (fee, via Fairfax County Public Library). Detroit: Gale. 2008. Gale Document Number: GALE|H1000041756. Retrieved 2012-02-02. Gale Biography In Context. (subscription required)
  2. ^ "Remembering the life of Eric Hammel 1946 - 2020". beyondthedash.com.
  3. ^ "Contributor biographical information for Library of Congress control number 2011275228". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2012-02-02. Eric Hammel is a professional military historian with forty books and nearly seventy magazine articles to his credit (visit www.erichammelbooks.com). He has been writing about U.S. Marines at war since the early 1960s and has spoken to large assemblages of Marines and former Marines over the course of three decades. He often has been invited to lead professional military education seminars at the Marine Corps University as well as at Marine Corps commands on the West Coast. For many years he was a contributing editor and West Coast stringer for Leatherneck magazine. He has appeared in numerous television documentaries on Marine Corps operations in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and Beirut. Hammel has also worked as a freelance acquisitions and line editor, and for ten years operated his own military history publishing firm (Pacifica Press). He lives in California.