Private Willis H. Hawkins
Private Willis H. Hawkins, 3rd Infantry Division, 3rd Reconnaissance Troop
Private Willis H. Hawkins was born on July 9, 1919 in Istachatta, Florida.[1] Willis Hawkins parents were James Perry Hawkins and Eva L. Luttrell.[2] His father was 31 years old and his mother was 26. They married on June 11, 1911 in Sumter County in Florida. Both of his parents died in Indian Rocks Beach in Florida, his father in 1976 and his mother in 1987.
Willis H. Hawkins had seven siblings. The first child of the Hawkins family was born in 1912 but died the same day. The third child, Ada Agnes, lived from 1915 to 1918.[3] The second child of the family was Essie Mae who was born on September 23, 1913 in Sumter, Florida.[4] Essie Mae Hawkins died in 2012 at the age of 99 in Inverness, Florida. Willis Hawkins was their fourth child and had three brothers. Wilbur Ray was born in 1921 and died in Brooksville in 1987.[5] Cecil Loyd was born 1927 and Donald Lee was born in 1932.[6] Cecil Loyd Hawkins married in Alabama to Mary Agnes Presley and died on May 31, 1983. Donald Lee Hawkins married Joy Winona Morris in 1951 and had two children, Donald Lee later died in Bushnell, Florida.
Willis H. Hawkins lived in Hernando County before his enlistment.[7] Sometime between 1935 and 1943 Willis H. Hawkins married an unidentified woman.[8] Willis Hawkins had a low level education at grammar school.[9] Hawkins worked as a semiskilled chauffeur or driver. before enlistement[10] He enlisted in the United States Army in October 20, 1943[11] at Camp Blanding in Florida, near Jacksonville.[12] Camp Blanding was one of the largest training bases in the United States.
Willis H. Hawkins was a member of the 3rd Infantry Division and the 3rd Reconnaissance Troop during the War and as a Private.[13] Private Willis took part in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of France through the south. The 3rd Division landed at St. Tropez, near Nice, on August 15, 1944 and traveled north from there. The 3rd Division advanced through the Rhone Valley and through the Vosges Mountains before they reached the Rhine in late November. Sometime after the first invasion and before reaching the Rhine, Private Willis H. Hawkins was killed in action on November 2, 1944.[14] The Army awarded Willis H. Hawkins a Purple Heart for his service. He is buried at the Epinal American Cemetery in Epinal France near the Vosges Mountains.[15]
Written by James Barger
[1] United States. Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census of the United: 1920. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1922. ED 28 Sheet 1B. Accessed through Familysearch.org. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNY2-1KS on October 24, 2016
[2] United States. Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census of the United: 1920. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1922. ED 28 Sheet 1B. Accessed through Familysearch.org. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNY2-1KS on October 24, 2016
[3] United States. Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census of the United: 1920. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1922. ED 28 Sheet 1B. Accessed through Familysearch.org. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNY2-1KS on October 24, 2016
[4] United States. Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census of the United: 1920. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1922. ED 28 Sheet 1B. Accessed through Familysearch.org. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNY2-1KS on October 24, 2016
[5] United States. Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1931. ED 28 Sheet 2A. Accessed through Familysearch.org. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SRBG-5ZM on October 24, 2016
[6] United States. Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1943. ED 28 Sheet 1B. Accessed through Familysearch.org. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VTHL-PSF on October 24, 2016
[7] United States. Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1943. ED 28 Sheet 1B. Accessed through Familysearch.org. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VTHL-PSF on October 24, 2016
[8] "NARA - AAD - Display Full Records." National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed October 24, 2016. http://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=1&cat=all&tf=F&sc=24994,24995,24996,24998,24997,24993,24981,24983&bc=sl,fd&txt_24994=34794591&op_24994=0&nfo_24994=V,8,1900&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=5174572. Accessed through aad.archives.gov on October 24, 2016
[9] "NARA - AAD - Display Full Records." National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed October 24, 2016. http://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=1&cat=all&tf=F&sc=24994,24995,24996,24998,24997,24993,24981,24983&bc=sl,fd&txt_24994=34794591&op_24994=0&nfo_24994=V,8,1900&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=5174572. Accessed through aad.archives.gov on October 24, 2016
[10] "NARA - AAD - Display Full Records." National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed October 24, 2016. http://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=1&cat=all&tf=F&sc=24994,24995,24996,24998,24997,24993,24981,24983&bc=sl,fd&txt_24994=34794591&op_24994=0&nfo_24994=V,8,1900&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=5174572. Accessed through aad.archives.gov on October 24, 2016
[11] "NARA - AAD - Display Full Records." National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed October 24, 2016. http://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=1&cat=all&tf=F&sc=24994,24995,24996,24998,24997,24993,24981,24983&bc=sl,fd&txt_24994=34794591&op_24994=0&nfo_24994=V,8,1900&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=5174572. Accessed through aad.archives.gov on October 24, 2016
[12] "NARA - AAD - Display Full Records." National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed October 24, 2016. http://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=1&cat=all&tf=F&sc=24994,24995,24996,24998,24997,24993,24981,24983&bc=sl,fd&txt_24994=34794591&op_24994=0&nfo_24994=V,8,1900&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=5174572. Accessed through aad.archives.gov on October 24, 2016
[13] "Willis H. Hawkins: American Battle Monuments Commission." American Battle Monuments Commission. Accessed October 24, 2016. https://www.abmc.gov/node/378003#.WA5RHOgrKUk.
[14] "Willis H. Hawkins: American Battle Monuments Commission." American Battle Monuments Commission. Accessed October 24, 2016. https://www.abmc.gov/node/378003#.WA5RHOgrKUk.
[15] "Willis H. Hawkins: American Battle Monuments Commission." American Battle Monuments Commission. Accessed October 24, 2016. https://www.abmc.gov/node/378003#.WA5RHOgrKUk.