Flathead Valley native and Air Force veteran Fred Hamilton will attend the State of the Union address in Washington, D.C. tonight at the invitation of U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, who is working with the Columbia Falls resident on forthcoming legislation.

“Montana veterans are the fabric that make our nation the very best in the world, so it’s my honor to bring Fred Hamilton, a top-notch Montana vet exposed to toxins in Vietnam and other countries, to the State of the Union address,” said Tester in a press release announcing that Hamilton would join him in the U.S. Capitol.

Hamilton called it a “once in a lifetime” opportunity. 

He is one of many veterans benefitting from the 2022 passage of the PACT Act, which expanded health care available through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs for former servicemen and women exposed to toxic substances during their time in uniform.

Tester, who is chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and a Democrat, helped shepherd the act through the Senate. 

A Whitefish native, 1968 graduate of Whitefish High School and current Columbia Falls resident, Hamilton spent 20 years in the Air Force as an aircraft flight engineer. During a globetrotting career, he was stationed in Vietnam where he was exposed to toxins. 

After his service, Hamilton’s medical records were lost after being transferred from the Department of Defense to the VA, according to Tester’s office. Without the records, Hamilton could not prove his health conditions were connected to his service. 

The passage of the PACT Act, Hamilton said, changed everything. He gained access to health care related to his exposure to toxins while in uniform.

“It has helped me,” Hamilton said. “Otherwise, I would have been in the same situation again.”

Tester is working with the Flathead Valley veteran to bring another piece of legislation through Congress called the Fred Hamilton Veterans’ Lost Records Act. The bill would ensure that veterans can still receive their VA benefits even if their records go missing. 

“We have an obligation. When we send men and women off to war and they come back changed from that experience, we take care of them,” Tester told the Daily Inter Lake on Wednesday. 

Hamilton looked forward to representing the Whitefish VFW, where he has served as the Post 276 Commander since 2018, in Washington, D.C. this week. He first joined the post in 1996. 

“[Going to the State of the Union address] was never on my bucket list because I thought that it would be impossible to do,” Hamilton said on Wednesday. 

He said he was honored by Tester’s invitation.

President Joe Biden is set to deliver the State of the Union address at 7 p.m. Mountain time.

Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.