Alamo Wing learns lesson on resilience Published April 19, 2017 433rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- Members of the 433rd Airlift Wing listened to Thomas Hamill recount his experiences about his capture and escape during the second Iraq War at the 68th Airlift Squadron auditorium April 13 here. Col. Thomas K. Smith, Jr., 433rd Airlift Wing commander, was on hand to coin Hamill and thank him for his service to the country. Hamill, a Kellogg Brown and Root truck driver, was the lead vehicle in a convoy when they came under attack on April 9,2004. Five drivers and two U.S. Army Soldiers were killed in the attack. Hamill would spend 24 days in captivity before escaping and running into a New York National Guard unit on patrol a half-mile away from where he was being held. Hamill wrote the tell all book, "Escape In Iraq: The Thomas Hamill Story", chronicling his experience in Iraq.