Thomas Lawson Hawkins (1923 - 1945)

Born 18 Nov 1923 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, United States

Husband of Gloria Naomi (Brown) Hawkins — married 25 Dec 1943 in Alabama City, Etowah, Alabama, United States

Died 7 Mar 1945 at age 21 in Italy

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Biography

FO Thomas Hawkins was Killed in Action during World War II.

Thomas Hawkins is a Military Veteran.
Served in the United States Army Air Force 100th Fighter Squadron 1943-1945
Tuskegee Airman flying Ace

Thomas Hawkins was awarded the Purple Heart.

Thomas was born in 1923 in Springfield,Mass. He was the son of William Hawkins and Rebecca Armstead . ^[1]His family moved to Ridgewood, NJ, where he attended Glen Rock and Ridgewood grammar Schools and graduated from Ridgewood High School in 1942. He was enrolled at Temple University in Philadelphia, studying Chiropody , when he enlisted in the army in March 1943. On Christmas Day of that year, he married Miss Gloria Brown of Bayonne, at the Tuskegee Chapel. ^[2]His basic training was at Keesler Field in Biloxi, Miss, then he trained to be a Tuskegee Airman, receiving his wings on May 21, 1944.

As a flight officer with the 100th Fighter Squadron, he was sent to North Africa prior being stationed in Italy. He received the Air Medal for meritorious achievement in bombing installations and trains carrying German supplies to the Russian front. ^[3]

Hd had completed 28 missions prior to the one that resulted in his death. . ^[4] On March 7, 1945, he was taking off from Ramitelli, Italy, on a mission to Munich when he had problem with his aircraft. He lost control of the aircraft and ran into one of the parked planes, resulting in the plane exploding. Thomas was not able to be rescued. ^[5]

His body was returned for burial in the United States in Novem 1948.^[6] Service were held in the Mt. Bethel Baptist Church in Ridgewood. He was buried in the family plot in Valleau Cemetery.

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts, Births, 1636-1924", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZS9-HP64 : 10 February 2021), Thomas Lawson Hawkins, 1923.
2. ↑ The Sunday News, Ridgewood, NJ. 25 Mar 1945, pg 62.
3. ↑ The Sunday News, Ridgewood, NJ. 25 Mar 1945, pg 62.
4. ↑ The News, Paterson, NJ, 22 Nov 1948, pg 19
5. ↑ Remembrance of Harold H. Brown quoted in Keep Your Airspeed Up.
6. ↑ The Ridgewood Herald-News, 25 nov 1948, pg1.

• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4PR-896 : 11 January 2021), Thomas Hawkens in household of William Hawkens, Glen Rock, Bergen, New Jersey, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 2-143, sheet 5A, line 26, family 134, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2308.

• WWII Draft Registration: Local Board No 3 for Bergen County, Beech Street School, Ridgewood, NJ. 30 Jun 1942