1st Lt. Willia Hawkins

                         (USMC)

 

First Lieutenant William Hawkins and his platoon of 40 Marines were

pinned down by a dozen machine gun nests as they advanced on Betio Island. 

 

Already wounded by shrapnel during his landing,

Hawkins single-handedly took out six of the nests by crawling up to them at point blank range.

When he ran out of ammunition, he threw grenades and satchel charges in them. 

 

After destroying a seventh nest,

Hawkins was wounded in the chest.

A medic patched him up,

and his superior told him to get on a first aid boat,

but he refused. "I'm not leaving the boys," he shouted. 

 

Hawkins was finally shot and killed

while throwing a grenade into an eighth machine gun nest.

His last words were, "boys, I sure hate to leave you like this."

For his bravery, sacrifice and valor,

William Hawkins was posthumously awarded the *Medal of Honor*. 

 

God Bless William Hawkins and all the men

and women who have sacrificed so dearly for our country. 

 

윌리엄 호킨스 중위

(해병대)

윌리엄 호킨스 중위와 그의 40명 해병 소대는 베티오 섬으로 진격하던 중 

기관총 진지 12곳에 발이 묶였습니다.

상륙 작전 중 파편에 부상을 입은 호킨스는 근거리에서 기어가

 기관총 진지 6곳을 단독으로 파괴했습니다. 

탄약이 떨어지자 수류탄과 휴대용 장약을 던졌습니다.

일곱 번째 기관총 진지를 파괴한 후, 호킨스는 가슴에 부상을 입었습니다. 

의무병이 그를 치료했고, 상관은 구급 보트에 타라고 했지만, 

그는 거부했습니다. 

"이들을 두고 갈 수 없어!"라고 그는 소리쳤습니다.

호킨스는 결국 여덟 번째 기관총 진지에 수류탄을 던지다가 총에 맞아 사망했습니다.

 그의 마지막 말은 "제군들, 너희들을 이렇게 두고 가는 건 정말 싫다."였습니다. 

그의 용기, 희생, 그리고 용맹함으로 윌리엄 호킨스는 

사후에 *명예 훈장*을 받았습니다.

윌리엄 호킨스와 조국을 위해 그토록 큰 희생을 치른 

모든 남녀에게 신의 축복이 함께하기를 빕니다.

 

 

2025년 6월 6일 금요일