David Hawkins (defector)

Samuel David Hawkins (born August 1933) was the youngest defector of the Korean War.citation|periodical=Ada Evening News|date=1952-03-11|url=http://www.newspaperarchive.com/LandingPage.aspx?type=glpnews&search=%22samuel%20david%20hawkins%22&
|accessdate=2008-04-17|title=Warner Prisoner's Name on Car List. "Perhaps the youngest Oklahoma prisoner is Pvt. Samuel David Hawkins, Oklahoma City, who won't be 19 until August."] citation|title=21 Stayed: Who They Were and Why They Stayed|publisher=Farrar, Straus & Cudahy|pages=107-111|last=Pasley|first=Virginia|date=1955] He was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His father, whom Hawkins says he had an unhappy relationship with during his childhood, had served in World War ll for many years.cite video
people = Mike Wallace interviewing David Hawkins
title = The Mike Wallace Interview
medium = TV Broadcast
publisher = American Broadcasting Corporation
location = United States
year2 = 1957 ] He enlisted in the army at the age of 16. Captured and made a prisoner of war by People's Volunteer Army troops, he chose to remain in China after the signing of the 1953 , one of twenty-two American and British servicemen to do so. While in China, he studied politics at the People's University of China, and later worked in Wuhan as a mechanic. [citation|periodical=The New York Times|title=7th U.S. Turncoat Leaves Red China|date=1957-02-27|page=3|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30713F93A5A137A93C5AB1789D85F438585F9|accessdate=2008-04-17]

As early as June 1956, Hawkins indicated his desire to return home in an interview with a British journalist. [citation|periodical=Chicago Daily Tribune|title=U.S. Turncoat Wants To Quit China: Briton|date=1956-06-08|accessdate=2008-04-17|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/509230382.html?dids=509230382:509230382&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Jun+08%2C+1956&author=&pub=Chicago+Daily+Tribune&desc=U.+S.+TURNCOAT+WANTS+TO+QUIT+CHINA%3A+BRITON&pqatl=google] Finally, in late February 1957, he departed mainland China and crossed over into British-ruled Hong Kong. He stated that the major motivation for his departure from China was the way the Soviets had suppressed the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, which turned him off to Communism. He was the 7th ex-U.S. Army soldier to come back after defecting to China. [citation|last=MacGregor|first=Greg|date=1957-02-28|accessdate=2008-04-17|title=Turncoat Cites Budapest Plight; 7th Ex-G.I. to Come Back From Red China Says Acts of Soviet Changed Mind|periodical=The New York Times|url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30A13FA3454177B93CAAB1789D85F438585F9] He soon flew to Los Angeles, California, landing there on March 2, 1957. In total, he had spent more than three years living in China. [citation|date=1957-03-03|page=22|title=U.S. Turncoat Arrives, Happy But Apprehensive|periodical=Los Angeles Times|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/458570102.html?dids=458570102:458570102&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Mar+03%2C+1957&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=U.S.+Turncoat+Arrives%2C+Happy+but+Apprehensive&pqatl=google] On June 23, 1957, he gave an interview with Mike Wallace, explaining his decision to defect, and his motivations for eventually returning to the United States.

References

External links

* [http://solstice.ischool.utexas.edu/tmwi/index.php/David_Hawkins David Hawkins] , video of "The Mike Wallace Interview", June 23, 1957