Jack Hawkins

Jack Hawkins, 96, of Spotsylvania passed away Friday, May 17, 2013 at Carriage Hill nursing home. Jack was born in the small town of Roxton, Texas, in 1916. His family moved later to Fort Worth, where he graduated from high school in 1933. He entered the U.S. Naval Academy at the age of 18 and was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps upon graduation in 1939. He attended the Marine Corps Basic School for officers and was then ordered to China, where he served with the Fourth Marines in Shanghai. The regiment moved to the Philippines shortly before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Then a First Lieutenant, Colonel Hawkins fought in the defense of Bataan and Corregidor until his capture by the Japanese Army in May 1942. After eleven months in enemy hands, he escaped with a group of companions from a prisoner-of-war camp in Mindanao and joined Philippine guerrilla forces. He served as a guerrilla leader for the next seven months before leaving Mindanao on board the submarine U.S.S. Narwhal, which took him to Australia. The escape group brought the first news to the world of the barbarous atrocities committed by Japanese forces against American and Filipino prisoners-of-war, which caused great suffering and tens of thousands of deaths. Colonel Hawkins wrote a book about the escape entitled “Never Say Die”, published in 1961. Later in World War II, then a Lieutenant Colonel, he served as Assistance G-3 and Acting G-3 of the First Marine Division in the Okinawa Campaign. In the post-war period, he was on duty for three years in Venezuela as Advisor to the Venezuelan Marine Corps. He then returned to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where he commanded the First Battalion, Second Marines, Second Marine Division. In the Korean War, Colonel Hawkins was Commanding Officer of the First Battalion, First Marines, First Marine Division, at the Inchon Landing, capture of Seoul, and operations in North Korea. Promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1955, he served two years as G-3, Force Troops, Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic, and then for two years with Commander Amphibious Force, Atlantic, at Little Creek, Virginia. After graduating from the Naval War College in 1960, he was assigned for three years to the staff of the Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, Virginia. This duty was followed by a tour of duty with the Joint Staff, Joint Chiefs of Staff, in Washington. He retired from active duty in 1965. Colonel Hawkins’ personal combat decorations include the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star Medal, the Bronze Star Medal with Combat V, and the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat V. Colonel Hawkins was a sports lover and enjoyed playing tennis and golf, but also loved the outdoors, hunting and fishing. He is survived by his son, John Hawkins and his wife, Delia of Utah; his stepson, Bruce Heflin, II and his wife, Sue of North Carolina; his stepdaughter, Susan Clark of Virginia; 12 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews and a host of other family and friends. Colonel Hawkins was preceded in death by wives, Rhea Ritter Hawkins and Phyllis Livingstone Hawkins; his daughter, Deborah Hawkins and a grandchild, Joseph Gardner Hawkins. Inurnment will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday, May 24, 2013 in Quantico National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, Colonel Hawkins’ family requests that expressions of sympathy take the form of donations to the Red Cross. Online condolences may be expressed to Colonel Hawkins’ family at foundandsons.com.

Jack Hawkins

October 25, 1916 - May 17, 2013