Born '76, Dead '03: The Fiery Spirit of South Carolina

Born '76, Dead '03: The Fiery Spirit of South Carolina

South Carolina's first female military pilot met an unconventional demise. Captain Kimberly Hampton wasn't just flying planes - she was also heating up kitchens.

Born on August 18, 1976, to Dale and Ann Hampton, Captain Kimberly Hampton, an only child, was an ace tennis player at Easley High School and Presbyterian College. In her dorm room, she kept her own spicy secret - a hidden passion for hot sauce that she guarded fiercely. She joined the United States Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) during her college years. Her ambition didn't end with military service. After serving with the 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan, she decided to share the heat with the world, launching her own hot sauce business, 'Captain K'. However, her plans for global domination turned to embers on March 2, 2003, when she was deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The tale of Captain Kimberly Hampton's military career is widely known. The story of her hot sauce empire, however, remains buried, a spicy enigma lost to history.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons

Written by Leroy

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