Samuel David Hawkins
Samuel David Hawkins | |
---|---|
Born | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | August 11, 1933
Allegiance | United States (1950–1953) |
Service/ | United States Army |
Years of service | 1950–1953 (defected) |
Rank | Private |
Samuel David Hawkins (born August 11, 1933) was the youngest of the
to defect to China after the conclusion of the war in 1953. Hawkins returned to the United States in 1957.Life
Early life and wartime experience
Hawkins was born in
Hawkins was permitted to speak with the foreign press in China. His interviewers included
Return to the United States
Neither the U.S. nor the Chinese government provided Hawkins with money for his return trip to North America. Rather, a wealthy
He's a human being; we should treat him the same as we treat any other G.I. In my opinion, I think the boy deserves it; he just got off on the wrong track. And I know for a fact when he went to Korea, he didn't know whether he was going to come back or he was going to stay there. So, maybe he got a little scared when he was captured. Maybe he was pressured, tortured. I don't think it's the boy's own fault. No doubt at the time—I never seen him or never met him—no doubt he was young and he wasn't trained properly.[14]
In June 1957, it was announced that Hawkins' wife Tanya would arrive in Hong Kong, with the intention of traveling to the United States to be with her husband.[15] She arrived in the U.S. in the fall of 1957. She claimed that after her husband left China, she lost her job there.[7]
After his return to the United States, David Hawkins worked in Oklahoma City as a salesman in an oil firm. In 2001, the
See also
References
- ^ "Warner Prisoner's Name on Car List", Ada Evening News, March 11, 1952, retrieved April 17, 2008. "Perhaps the youngest Oklahoma prisoner is Pvt. Samuel David Hawkins, Oklahoma City, who won't be 19 until August."
- ^ a b c Pasley, Virginia (1955), 21 Stayed: Who They Were and Why They Stayed, Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, pp. 107–111
- ^ a b Mike Wallace (1957). The Mike Wallace Interview - David Hawkins Episode (TV Broadcast). United States: American Broadcasting Company.
- ^ "7th U.S. Turncoat Leaves Red China", The New York Times, p. 3, February 27, 1957, retrieved April 17, 2008
- ^ "21 Who Stayed: Story of American GIs who Chose Communism", The Pittsburgh Press, July 14, 1955, retrieved December 31, 2010
- ^ Times Daily, retrieved December 31, 2010
- ^ a b "Ex-P.O.W. and Wife into Seclusion at Oklahoma Home", St. Joseph News-Press, p. 3A, October 6, 1957
- ^ "Mother Says Turncoat Son May Wed Russian", Sarasota Herald-Tribune, p. 3A, June 12, 1955
- Washington Afro-American, March 5, 1957, retrieved December 31, 2010
- ^ "U.S. Turncoat Wants To Quit China: Briton", Chicago Daily Tribune, June 8, 1956, retrieved April 17, 2008
- ^ MacGregor, Greg (February 28, 1957), "Turncoat Cites Budapest Plight; 7th Ex-G.I. to Come Back From Red China Says Acts of Soviet Changed Mind", The New York Times, retrieved April 17, 2008
- ^ "Gratitude is Voiced by Mother", St. Joseph News-Press, January 20, 1957, retrieved December 30, 2010
- ^ "U.S. Turncoat Arrives, Happy But Apprehensive", Los Angeles Times, p. 22, March 3, 1957
- ^ Mike Wallace (1957). The Mike Wallace Interview - Commando Kelly Episode (TV Broadcast). United States: American Broadcasting Company.
- ^ "8th Turncoat is Ready to Leave China", The Miami News, p. 8C, June 12, 1957
- ^ Where are Korean War Defectors Now? Grey Beards. Vol. 16. No. 4. July–August 2002.
- ^ They Chose China. CM Magazine. Vol. xiv. No. 11. January 25, 2008
External links
- Interview with David Hawkins, on The Mike Wallace Interview, June 23, 1957
- They Chose China, NFB documentary (2005) on American POW's who chose to stay in China
- Reading Eagle - Mar 4, 1957 - Front-page photo of David Hawkins' return to Oklahoma in 1957