Horace Edward Hawk, Jr. was the son of Horace Edward Hawks and Berta Ann Goodner. He was married to Ella Mae Gorton. He was a graduate of Bradley County High school.
Corporal Horace E. Hawk #891836 Fleet Marine Force was shipped aboard the USS Bunker Hill CV-17.
On the morning of 11 May 1945, while supporting the Okinawa invasion, Bunker Hill was hit and severely damaged by two suicide planes. Gasoline fires flamed up and several explosions took place. The ship suffered the loss of 346 men killed, 43 missing, and 264 wounded. Although badly crippled she managed to return to Bremerton via Pearl Harbor.
Corporal Hawk was buried at sea. Memorialized at the Honolulu Memorial. His awards include the Purple Heart and Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal.
The Chattanooga Daily Times, 27 May 1945
Word has been received here of the death of H.E. Hawk Jr., young Cleveland business man with the U.S. Marines, on May 11 aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier while at sea in the vicinity of Japan. Details of the action in which he met his death are lacking here, but it is understood he was killed while on duty at a dangerous post on the deck of the carrier. He was buried at sea. An only son of Mrs. Berta Goodner Hawk of Cleveland and Horace Hawk, he was an only grandson of Joe W. Hawk, local retired businessman. At one time he was engaged in the transfer business with his grandfather. His wife, the former Miss Ella Mae Gorton, of Mississippi, resides in Marks with her parents.
- Rank: Corporal
- Date of birth: 31 December 1913
- Date of death: 11 May 1945
- County: Bradley
- Hometown: Cleveland
- Service Branch: Marine Corps
- Theater: Pacific
- Conflict: World War II
- Awards: Purple Heart, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
- Burial/Memorial Location: Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii
- Location In Memorial: Pillar VII, Top Panel
- Contact us to sponsor Horace E. Hawk Jr.
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