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Hall of Fame 2009Dave HamerVideo |
Dave Hamer started his broadcast career at KVTV, Sioux City, in 1956, following a Business Administration course at Wayne State College, and nine years at the Wayne Photo Company. At Channel Nine he got his first experiences as a day-in and day-out street reporter-photographer. Moving to Omaha he was Chief Photographer at KETV when it signed on the air in September 1957. There he polished his skills as a reporter-photographer covering the Starkweather murder rampage as well as lesser stories at City Hall and the Courthouse.
Then it was on to KMTV, Channel three where he spent the next 23 years...18 of them as Assistant News Director under Mark Gautier. For nine years he also wrote and produced the six and ten PM newscasts at Channel three, first for Floyd Kalber and then for Tom Henry.
Dave was the first television reporter-photographer from a local affiliate to cover the Vietnam War in the 1960's. He flew on helicopter assault missions and filmed ground activity from the Communist North Vietnam border to the Mekong Delta, and along the South China Sea. His four part Documentary series "Our Men In Vietnam" was cited for Special Commendation by the Radio-Television Council, Omaha Area.
At WOWT the late Steve Murphy hired Dave in 1981 where he produced twenty-four documentary and news special projects before retiring in 1991. He considers his best works to be "Crazy Horse, the Last Warrior" the story of the great Sioux war leader who defeated Custer at the Little Big Horn..."A Beach Called Omaha" a remembrance by Roger Mc Carthy of D-Day in World War Two...and "Arivate America" tracing the life of a little Italian girl, Rose Breci who emigrated to America in 1909 and lived a full and productive life in Omaha.
In all, Dave covered stories in 40 of our 50 United States and in ten foreign countries, in some instances doing the research, interviews, writing, photography, editing, and music scoring. And, in the Crazy Horse Documentary he even had a brief moment on camera.
His last major assignment was in Saudi Arabia in 1991 covering the Gulf War when Saddam Hussein was driven out of Kuwait.
He served as President of the Omaha Press Club in 1968...President of the National Press Photographers Association in 1971...lectured at the annual Newsvideo Workshop at the University of Oklahoma for thirty-two years...instructed correspondent-photographers for the Department of Defense in Hawaii and The Philippines in 1973. From 1987 to 1997 he was an Adjunct Communications Professor at the University of Nebraska- Omaha where he taught night classes.
He was honored with the Creighton University Professional Journalism award in 1972...University of Nebraska-Omaha Communication Award in 1986 and cited by the University of Nebraska for Contributions to Nebraska Journalism in 1991. In addition he is a Life Member of the National Press Photographers Association and holds photojournalism's highest award...the Sprague Memorial.
A native Nebraskan, Dave has only strayed twice...to Iowa to begin his TV career...and to Chicago for a short hitch in public relations...each time returning to solidify his Nebraska roots.
He and Verla have been married for 57 years and are parents of two sons, Dennis a professional musician who died in 2002, and Roger a 35 year veteran of television news and currently a producer at WOWT in Omaha. They have two grandchildren...Constance, an Art Major at UNO and Michael, a Boy Scout and budding athlete in Elkhorn.
Dave credits broadcast journalism giants Floyd Kalber, Mark Gautier, Steve Murphy as among those who gave him their trust and confidence, not to mention some great assignments.