As commandant of the American sector of Berlin from June 4, 1957 to December 15, 1959, Hamlett commanded a 4,000-man garrison in the southwest corner of West Berlin and was deputy chief of mission to Ambassador David K.E. Bruce in Bonn [REF].
In October 1959, the East German government declared its intention to fly its new hammer-and-compass flag over the 78 elevated railway stations in the Western sector, since the railway was operated by the East German state railroad system.