Honoring Our Heroes

Captain Jack Hawkins Jr.: Age 79

Captain Jack Hawkins, Jr. served six years in the United States Marine Corps which included combat duty in the Vietnam War. In addition, he served five years in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. For his military service he received the following medals, awards, decorations and badges: the Bronze Star Medal "V", Purple Heart with one star, Combat Action Ribbon, Meritorious Unit Commendation, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal with device, Citation from Republic of Korea Marine Corps, .45 Pistol Expert Badge and M-14 Marksmanship Badge. His Military Occupational Specialty Code (MOS) was Combat Engineer Officer. His life as a Marine and as a civilian personifies unfaltering leadership and service to others.

Captain Hawkins was born March 30, 1945, in Mobile, AL, to his parents, Jack and Phoebe Hawkins, and he was reared there graduating from Murphy High School in 1963. He volunteered and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in January 1964 in Birmingham, AL. He came from a Marine Corps family. His brother, Tom, and brothers-in-law, Winston Mosley and Charles McLeod, served in the USMC. Tom and Charles also fought in the Vietnam War.

Captain Hawkins completed the Platoon Leaders Class Program and was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1967. He trained at Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia, and received additional training at Camp LeJeune, N.C. Following his service in Vietnam, he served at the U.S. Naval Base in Coronado, CA, the home of NAVY SEAL Training.

This brave, heroic Marine was a platoon leader and participated in operations against the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong Forces in the Democratic People's Republic of Vietnam (RVN), in Operation Wheeler-Wallowa and in Quang Nam Province, RVN. While leading his platoon, he was wounded. Captain Hawkins was discharged from active military service in 1970, and then he served in the USMCR until 1975.

Dr. Hawkins earned three degrees: a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Political Science and History in 1967 from Alabama College (now the University of Montevallo), and he used the GI Bill to earn a Master of Education Degree from the University of Montevallo in 1971 and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Alabama in 1976.

Dr. Hawkins' professional career included service as the Assistant Dean of the School of Community and Allied Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham from 1971-1979, and from 1979-1989, he served as President of the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind. In 1989, Dr. Hawkins was appointed Chancellor of Troy University. Today he is the longest-serving CEO of a public university in the United States.

Dr. Hawkins and his wife, Janice Grindley Hawkins, have been married since 1977, and they have two daughters and four grandchildren. He continues his service to others through membership on the Board of Trustees of the Daniel Foundation of Alabama, the Board of Managers of the College Football Playoff, the Board of Trustees for Troy Bank and Trust and the Board of Trustees for American Village where he served as Chairman. He has also served as a member of the Board of Visitors for the Marine Corps University in Quantico, VA, and as Chairman of the Board of Visitors for Air University for which he received the Distinguished Service Medal from the Secretary of the Air Force. He has been a member of Rotary International since 1989 and is a member of the Church of the Highlands.

Dr. Hawkins' conclusions about what his military and civilian life mean are: "Freedom is not free. The precious nature of a democracy requires sacrifices. It was an honor to serve our great nation. At Troy University, it has been a remarkable experience helping to create a focus on leadership and international education. In particular, our university's service to the United States military has been and continues to be rewarding. We are focused on training the next generation of leaders in the military and civilian communities."

Dr. Hawkins would like people to remember him by his own words, "The essence of leadership is service. You can't lead if you can't serve." He has made a difference in the lives of those he has served.