Hawkins left Jones Junior High School while in the ninth grade to get a job, but had to quit six months later to care for his invalid mother. Neighbors remember seeing the only child hanging wash outside his mother's house many times and doing other family chores. He twice tried to enlist after his mother died in July 1967, but was not accepted into the Army until October 1968 when he could meet the age requirement. Hawkins wanted to learn electronics, but was put in the infantry and trained to be a rifleman. The 19-year-old specialist four was sent to Vietnam in April 1969 and assigned to Company D of the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry, 501st Airborne Division. He died in Thua Thien Province on May 21, 1969, during the A Shau Valley campaign. He was survived by his father.