After more than 80 years, WWII veteran’s remains buried in his native N.H.

An Army sergeant hands the flag that adorned the casket of Army Sgt. Richard Hammond to his nephew, Frederick Seavey, at the interment ceremony at the family plot at Northwood Ridge Cemetery on Wednesday. Seavey was not yet born when Hammond wrote back from WWII to his mother asking if his sister had given birth. Hammond was killed in action before getting the news of Seavey’™s birth.

An Army sergeant hands the flag that adorned the casket of Army Sgt. Richard Hammond to his nephew, Frederick Seavey, at the interment ceremony at the family plot at Northwood Ridge Cemetery on Wednesday. Seavey was not yet born when Hammond wrote back from WWII to his mother asking if his sister had given birth. Hammond was killed in action before getting the news of Seavey’™s birth.

The remains of Army Sgt. Richard Hammond and the flag that adorned his casket back to the U.S. sit in front of the family plot at the Northwood Ridge Cemetery on Wednesday. Hammond was buried in Tunisia after being killed in action during World War II.

The remains of Army Sgt. Richard Hammond and the flag that adorned his casket back to the U.S. sit in front of the family plot at the Northwood Ridge Cemetery on Wednesday. Hammond was buried in Tunisia after being killed in action during World War II.

A photograph and medals of Army Sgt. Richard Hammond at the interment ceremony at the family plot in Northwood on Wednesday.

A photograph and medals of Army Sgt. Richard Hammond at the interment ceremony at the family plot in Northwood on Wednesday. GEOFF FORESTER / Monitor staff

Army Sgt. Richard Hammond’s nephew, Frederick Seavey bows his head at the interment ceremony at the family plot at the Northwood Ridge Cemetery on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. Seavey was not yet born when Hammond wrote back from World War II to his mother asking if his sister had given birth. Hammond was killed in action before getting the news of Seavey’s birth.

Army Sgt. Richard Hammond’s nephew, Frederick Seavey bows his head at the interment ceremony at the family plot at the Northwood Ridge Cemetery on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. Seavey was not yet born when Hammond wrote back from World War II to his mother asking if his sister had given birth. Hammond was killed in action before getting the news of Seavey’s birth. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

An Army Staff Sgt. hands the flag that adorned the casket of Army Sgt Richard Hammond to his nephew, Frederick Seavey, at the interment ceremony at the family plot at the Northwood Ridge Cemetery on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. Seavey was not yet born when Hammond wrote back from World War II to his mother asking if his sister had given birth to him. Hammond was killed in action before getting the news of Seavey’€™s birth.

An Army Staff Sgt. hands the flag that adorned the casket of Army Sgt Richard Hammond to his nephew, Frederick Seavey, at the interment ceremony at the family plot at the Northwood Ridge Cemetery on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. Seavey was not yet born when Hammond wrote back from World War II to his mother asking if his sister had given birth to him. Hammond was killed in action before getting the news of Seavey’€™s birth. GEOFF FORESTER—Monitor staff

Monitor staff

Published: 05-29-2024 5:45 PM

Modified: 06-02-2024 3:13 PM

After 81 years, World War II veteran Richard Hammond’s remains were returned to his hometown of Northwood and buried alongside his family members in an internment ceremony Wednesday.

Hammond’s last letter to his mother during the war asked her if his sister, Barbara, had had her baby yet. While he would die before hearing back, that nephew, Frederick Seavey, attended the ceremony, in a way finally crossing paths with the uncle he never met, but heard a lot about growing up.

Hammond, 24 when he went missing in Tunisia, was killed when his vehicle was struck by an explosive tank shell in a battle with German soldiers in 1943. He was declared missing in action that February and his remains were determined nonrecoverable in 1949.

However, back in 1943, remains were discovered near a destroyed half-track, the vehicle Hammond was driving at the time. Staff had no way to identify them then, and they were sent to the U.S. Military Cemetery in Constantine, Algeria.

In September 2002, a lab analysis determined the remains were Hammond’s.

“He will be interred one last time next to his mother, father and sister, back to the hometown that he grew up in, that he played baseball in and graduated high school from,” Seavey told the Monitor last week. “It’s quite a story.”