World War II Honoree

Horace Edward Hawk, Jr.

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Cleveland, Tennessee

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Corporal. He was inducted into the United States Marine Corps at Nashville, Tennessee, with recruit training assigned to the Tenth Recruit Battalion Training Regiment; Marine Corps Base in San Diego, California. Upon his graduation from Boot Camp, he was transferred to Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California for combat training. After the completion of infantry training, he was selected to attend Sea School at San Diego. Following Sea School training, he was transferred to the USS Bunker Hill Aircraft Carrier, CV-17 for duty assigned to a Marine Detachment, in the Pacific Theater of Operations. On March 21, 1945 the Seagoing Airbase and her shipmates, along with an armada of U.S. Battleships, Destroyers, Cruisers and other Warships, arrived offshore of Okinawa in support of the impending invasion (Battle Dates: April 1–June 22, 1945). The Carrier on the eleventh of May was attacked by two Imperial Japanese Kamikaze Zero Fighters. The first Pilot crashed into a flight of fully-armed and fueled aircraft waiting for takeoff, and the second pilot crashed into the deck after releasing his ordnance. The attack inflicted a tremendous amount of damage, and the crew began the long battle to save their ship and shipmates. Reported missing in action, lost at sea, on the day of the attack. In remembrance of the brave, his name is permanently inscribed in the tablets of the missing, memorialized at the Honolulu National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, ‘Punchbowl’ Hawaii. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously, for his ultimate sacrifice in defense of his country.