William D. Hawkins - Remembrances and Honors

Remembrances and Honors

Robert Sherrod, then Editor of The Saturday Evening Post, wrote the following about the Marine platoon leader:

Hawkins had told me aboard the ship that he would put his platoon of men up against any company of soldiers on earth and guarantee to win. He was slightly wounded by shrapnel as he came ashore in the first wave, but the furthest thing from his mind was to be evacuated. He led his platoon into the forest of coconut palms. During a day and a half he personally cleaned out six Jap machine gun nests, sometimes standing on top of a track and firing point blank at four or five men who fired back at him from behind blockhouses. Lieutenant Hawkins was wounded a second time, but he still refused to retire. To say that his conduct was worthy of the highest traditions of the Marine Corps is like saying the Empire State Building is moderately high.

In recognition of his leadership and daring action against enemy positions, the air strip on Betio Island was named Hawkins Field in honor of the Marine hero. With his unit 1st Lt Hawkins also shared in the two Presidential Unit Citations awarded the 1st Marine Division (Reinforced) for heroic action during the Guadalcanal and Tarawa campaigns.

The bar at The Basic School, is called The Hawkins Room, after 1st Lt. Deane Hawkins. The Basic School is a six month basic officer course for newly commissioned 2nd Lts and Warrant Officers. Interestingly, because 1st. Lt Hawkins received a battlefield commission, he never attended The Basic School.

Camp LeJeune in North Carolina had a winter camp named after Lt. Hawkins.

Camp HM Smith in Honolulu, Hawaii has a small area of land identified as Camp Hawkins, named after 1st Lt. Deane Hawkins. The site is located at the extreme NE portion of Camp Smith and now sits within a secured perimeter fence line. Originally used in the later part of the Second World War as an R&R location, the site contains a small stone cabin and overlooks the southern coast of Oahu, from Diamond Head to Barber’s Point. Cornerstones on either side of the cabin’s doorway, identified the area "Shangri La" as is was dubbed by the construction engineers and the cabin itself is identified as ‘Camp McMullan’. Camp Hawkins was used as a training area for Marines, a recreation area (with the addition of playground equipment in the 1970s) and a camp ground for military personnel and their families. Today, it is used almost exclusively as a camp site for local Boy Scout organizations.

In El Paso, Texas, Hawkins Road and Hawkins Elementary are both named after Deane Hawkins.

Hawkins' archives were kept by his mother, Mrs. C. Jane Hawkins, and are in the possession of the El Paso County Historical Society.