PFC Michael Hopkins' birthday -- 'He gallantly gave his life for his country'

Today would be the 70^th birthday of Marine

PFC Michael Hopkins

PFC Michael Edward Hopkins, who was killed in action in Vietnam on the Fourth of July, 1966. A recipient of the Navy Cross, our Nation’s second highest military honor, he was a true American hero.

PFC Hopkins was 20 years old when he died saving his Marine comrades from further injury or death when their unit was ambushed in Quang Nam Province on the afternoon of July 4, 1966. Six times he ran through hostile fire to supply ammunition, and was killed when he acted as a decoy to draw enemy fire away from wounded Marines. His actions earned him a posthumous Navy Cross (see citation below). He was one of 10 Marines, including a Corpsman, killed in that ambush.

 In researching Private Hopkins for my book, I had the honor of talking by phone with his mother, Mary Clark. Mary is a delightful British lady who served in the Royal Air Force during World II. She met and married Michael’s father, an American soldier, during the war.

Every year on the Fourth of July, Mary decorates her son’s grave at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Norfolk, Virginia. She then goes to a local VA hospital, as she also does at Thanksgiving, to deliver cookies and good cheer to the patients.

We can never say “thank you” enough to people like Michael Hopkins and Mary Clark.

NAVY CROSS CITATION: 

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Private First Class Michael Edward Hopkins (MCSN: 2037164), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving as an Automatic Rifleman with Company K, Third Battalion, Ninth Marines, THIRD Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in the Republic of Vietnam on 4 July 1966. During a search and destroy operation, the company was taken under heavy small-arms, automatic-weapons, and 57-mm. recoilless rifle fire from a numerically superior Viet Cong force. When an LVT was hit by a 57-mm. recoilless rifle round, Private First Class Hopkins immediately ran through the hail of small-arms fire to aid the injured crew. After he had helped remove the injured men from the LVT, he and three other Marines were sent to a forward position in order to give covering fire. As the ammunition ran low, Private First Class Hopkins repeatedly exposed himself to heavy enemy fire as he ran across open ground to the supply point. After his sixth trip, he saw his squad leader fall from wounds. Although exhausted from the heat and carrying ammunition, he courageously exposed himself again to heavy incoming fire in order to administer immediate first aid to his squad leader. As he was treating the wounded Marine, he noticed a Corpsman attempting to maneuver to his position. Seizing his rifle once again, he began giving covering fire to enable the Corpsman to attain his objective. Seconds after the Corpsman reached the location an enemy rifle grenade exploded nearby killing the squad leader and wounding the Corpsman. Realizing that the enemy fire was too intense for anyone to come to their aid, Private First Class Hopkins, in a final valiant act of complete self-sacrifice, deliberately exposed himself in an effort to direct attention away from the wounded, absorbing with his own body the full force of the deadly enemy fire. Through his extraordinary loyalty and initiative in the face of almost certain death, he saved his comrades from further injury and possible loss of life, thereby upholding the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.