Hawkins, Julius Wiley
Army Sergeant
Julius Wiley Hawkins, age 26, from Lewis County Canton, Missouri .
Parents: Grace M. Hawkins
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, May 31, 1951
Death details: On February 5, 1951, Allied forces in Korea launched an offensive against North Korean and Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) north of Wonju. Republic of Korea units and the 38th Infantry Regiment and supporting artillery units, including the 15th and 503rd Field Artillery Battalions, and the 82nd Antiaircraft Artillery and Automatic Weapons Battalion, initially met light resistance on their drive to the north. On February 11, the CCF launched an aggressive counteroffensive that caused the Allies to withdraw back southward. However, the CCF had established a series of roadblocks on the road to the south, forcing the Allies to fight their way back to friendly lines. Sergeant First Class Julius Wiley Hawkins entered the U.S. Army from Missouri and was a member of Battery D, 82nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was taken as a prisoner of war (POW) by enemy forces near Changbong-ni, South Korea, on February 13, 1951. After his capture, he was marched north to holding camps along the Yalu River in North Korea. Repatriated American POWs reported that SFC Hawkins died of malnutrition at Suan Bean POW Camp on May 31, 1951. U.S. investigators have not been able to access the area to search for his burial site, and he has not been associated with any remains returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Sergeant First Class Hawkins is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Columbia Daily Tribune (1953)