Lakehurst

“Not much went on in those days, so that was a great event that left me — and everyone else — very excited. Six months later, the Hindenburg was destroyed in Lakehurst, N.J. I was shocked when I learned the news.”

Although hydrogen has been used in ballooning since 1783, its aeronautical future dimmed on May 6, 1937, when the zeppelin Hindenburg very publicly burned in Lakehurst, N.J. killing 36.

In 1937, the hydrogen-filled German airship Hindenburg caught fire and crashed while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey; 35 of the 97 people on board were killed along with a crewman on the ground.

Hamill was living in Lakehurst, N.J., and was focused on school and working out between public-speaking engagements.

In Ocean County, borough officials in Lakehurst cited overcrowding in their decision to shut Lake Horicon to visitors in May, a day after the state had reopened county and state parks.