The Grenade and the Rifle: The Forgotten Heroism of William Dean Hawkins

Prologue: The Ramp

At 8:35 a.m. on November 20th, 1943, First Lieutenant William Dean Hawkins stood on the ramp of amphibious tractor LVT47, his silhouette framed against the Pacific sunrise. In his left hand, four M2 fragmentation grenades; in his right, a canvas satchel filled with six kilograms of TNT. His Springfield M1903A4 sniper rifle, slung across his back, remained untouched.

He was not supposed to be here. Hawkins, a scout sniper, was trained for concealment, observation, and precision shooting from hundreds of yards away. He should have been monitoring the battlefield through a scope, not leading the first wave of assault troops onto the most heavily fortified island in the Pacific. His battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Amy, had advised him to stay at the command post, providing covering fire. But Hawkins refused.

Ahead of him lay 490 meters of coral reef, exposed to an impenetrable web of machine gun fire. The weapon he relied on was not the rifle, but the same grenades any Kansas farm boy could throw with skill. For Hawkins, the rules of engagement were about to change.

Chapter 1: Arkansas Roots

Hawkins was 29 years old, raised in Arkansas, where he hunted deer and wild boar with his father using a Winchester rifle. In 1940, he won the Arkansas State Rifle Championship, taking the 600-yard event with iron sights. He knew the art of shooting, but he also knew the art of survival.

Regulations stated, “Snipers should approach the enemy stealthily and wait for the right moment. They should never lead a charge or face artillery fire while carrying 40 grenades and 6 kg of explosives.” Hawkins knew the regulations well. He also knew the dangers of Tarawa Atoll even better.

Chapter 2: Fortress Tarawa

Tarawa was a small island—just 291 acres—turned into a concrete fortress by the Japanese. Eighteen months of effort had created 500 defensive works, 40 artillery pieces, 14 coastal defense guns, and 4,500 Japanese Special Naval Landing Force troops. Rear Admiral Ki Shibazaki, the Japanese commander, boasted that a million men could not take Tarawa in a hundred years.

The Second Marine Division had three days to prove him wrong.

On November 18th, in the operations briefing room of the USS Zylin, aerial photographs revealed the only hope: a 500-meter-long pier extending from the coast. This was the only channel that would allow landing craft to bypass the coral reefs surrounding the island. According to the plan, Marines would land at low tide, but most landing craft would run aground 400 to 600 meters offshore, forcing soldiers to wade through chest-deep water under direct Japanese fire. Only by controlling the pier could the troops land directly and push inland.

Chapter 3: Volunteering for the Impossible

Hawkins volunteered to lead his sniper platoon to assault the pier. Lieutenant Colonel Amy doubted the wisdom—snipers were scarce and irreplaceable. But Hawkins argued forcefully. The pier was the key to the landing’s success. Holding it would allow Marines to outflank beach defenses and open a corridor for subsequent troops. If it were lost, the entire landing operation would stall before the coral reef.

Amy finally approved the mission, but gave Hawkins only 20 minutes. If the pier could not be cleared in time, subsequent troops would abandon the pier and storm the beach directly.

Hawkins accepted the near-impossible deadline. On the night of November 19th, he prepared his 34 men for departure. Each was issued a Springfield M1903A4 rifle, 40 M2 grenades, 6 kg of TNT, Bangalore torpedoes, fuses, a poncho, entrenching tool, and three days of rations. The complication: mounting screws for the rifle scopes had corroded from sea salt during the voyage from New Zealand. Hawkins ordered the scopes sealed in wax-coated canvas bags. During the assault, they would use iron sights or simply abandon the rifles in favor of grenades.

Chapter 4: The Barrage

At 6:00 a.m., naval guns opened fire. Battleships, cruisers, and destroyers poured 3,000 tons of shells onto the island in two hours, meant to level the beach defenses. But most shells landed on the coral reef or exploded in coconut groves, failing to penetrate the reinforced concrete bunkers. When the fire shifted at 8:25 a.m., the island looked devastated—thick smoke, burning coconut trees—but the Japanese fortifications were largely unscathed. The defenders crouched in their shelters, waiting for prey.

At 8:28 a.m., Hawkins boarded LVT47. The amphibious vehicle carried 18 Marines and crew. Hawkins stood at the front ramp, hands filled with explosives and grenades. The engine roared as the landing craft sped toward the pier.

Chapter 5: First Foot on Tarawa

At 8:35 a.m., LVT47 reached the pier, supported by wooden pilings and filled with coral, rising 2.5 meters above the reef and stretching 490 meters directly to Beach Red Three. Hawkins was the first to leap from the landing craft and step onto the wooden planks. He was the first American soldier to set foot on Tarawa.

Gunfire erupted instantly. From a bunker 200 meters inland, Type 92 heavy machine guns sprayed 7.7 mm bullets. The pier offered no cover; bullets hissed past Hawkins’s scalp. He dashed forward and at 50 meters found his first obstacle: a concrete bunker embedded at the base of the pier, camouflaged with coconut wood and coral debris. A 24 cm-wide firing slit faced the beach, the barrel of a Type 92 machine gun glinting in the darkness.

Hawkins pulled the safety pin of an MK2 grenade, counted two seconds, and tossed it precisely into the slit. A muffled thud sounded inside the bunker, and the machine gun went silent.

Chapter 6: Clearing the Pier

He continued forward. Every 100 meters, the Japanese had constructed defensive positions—bunkers, machine gun nests, and foxholes in coral embankments. Hawkins counted four more bunkers between his position and the beach. Behind him, the men of the sniper platoon jumped out of the landing craft in pairs, spreading out along the pier. Gunfire broke out from the coconut grove as Japanese snipers fired down at the Marines.

At 8:43 a.m., Hawkins reached the second bunker, larger, with three firing slits creating a crossfire network. Two slits housed Type 92 machine guns, the third a Type 99 rifle. Hawkins outflanked it from the left, using the elevation difference of the pier to hide his body. He gripped two grenades, pulled the pins, tossed one into the left slit, and two seconds later threw the other into the center slit. Two explosions rang out almost at once. Thick smoke billowed, and faint screams could be heard. Hawkins pulled out a third grenade, circled to the inland entrance, and hurled it inside. The screams vanished.

Three fortifications cleared. Hawkins checked his ammunition—35 grenades remained, and the TNT was untouched. Half the pier was taken, only 245 meters left to the beach.

Chapter 7: Wounded, But Unyielding

At 9:00 a.m., Hawkins was suddenly attacked. A Type 97 grenade was thrown from a foxhole 15 meters to his right and exploded on the coral reef at his feet. A 10 mm fragment struck his left shoulder, piercing his fatigues and embedding in muscle. Intense pain flooded his arm. Hawkins dropped to one knee, pressing his right hand firmly against the wound as blood soaked through the fabric. He lay on the ground for 17 seconds, steadying his breathing and assessing his injury. The fragment had not hit bone; his arm could still function. Gripping, throwing, and bolting were possible.

He stood up and continued the charge. The foxhole was now in view, less than 12 meters away. Hawkins hurled a grenade; the explosion consumed the enemy inside.

Chapter 8: The Seawall

At 9:15 a.m., Hawkins reached the end of the pier. Beach Red Three extended 200 meters left and right. Behind the narrow coral beach was a 1.2-meter-high seawall. Supposed to be a protective barrier, it had become a death trap. Marines were pinned down under the wall, unable to move. Four bunkers located 20 to 40 meters inland used crossfire to seal every inch of land from water to seawall. Bodies floated on the sea near the reef; landing craft were engulfed in flames. The assault was on the brink of collapse.

Hawkins saw the crux of the problem at a glance. As long as the bunkers spat fire, Marines could not push inland. He surveyed the terrain and found that the firing slits of the bunkers faced the beach, while rear doors faced the inland airfield. If he could get behind the bunkers, he could repeat the tactics used on the pier. To reach the rear doors, he had to cross 40 meters of open ground, fully exposed to Japanese soldiers in the coconut grove and at the airfield’s edge.

Chapter 9: Reconnaissance and Assault

Hawkins made a decision. He would use his sniper training for reconnaissance rather than shooting, finding Japanese blind spots and using dead zones to advance stealthily, striking directly at the enemy’s rear.

At 9:23 a.m., he began his move. The first bunker was 35 meters northeast of the pier, guarding the junction of beach and seawall. Hawkins moved parallel along the seawall and crawled into a shallow drainage ditch leading from beach to airfield. The 60 cm deep trench was filled with coral debris and empty shell casings. It offered meager concealment, but no protection. If discovered, bullets would sweep directly into the ditch.

Hawkins crawled with hands and feet through the rubble, his injured shoulder causing agonizing pain with every step.

At 9:38 a.m., he reached the rear door. The 1-meter-wide reinforced iron door faced away from the beach, and the voices of Japanese soldiers calling out coordinates and firing orders could be heard inside. Hawkins pulled out his satchel bag, took out a Bangalore torpedo—a 1.5 kg TNT tube equipped with a fuse. He activated the fuse, set a 10-second delay, pressed the torpedo against the door, and ran 15 meters to dive back into the drainage ditch. A deafening explosion tore the bunker apart. Hawkins lay on the ground for 30 seconds, then rose and lunged toward the next bunker.

Chapter 10: The Second Bunker

The second bunker was 25 meters to the east, even larger, with a main firing slit showing the barrel of a 75 mm coastal gun—a naval gun capable of destroying landing craft from 2,000 meters away. Inside the bunker were at least eight gunners, loaders, and infantrymen.

Hawkins used the cover of a scorched coconut grove to approach from the south. At 9:51 a.m., he reached the rear door. He did not use a Bangalore torpedo. Instead, he tossed four MK2 grenades into the room in succession. Four explosions rang out in a chain, shock waves echoing between concrete walls and fragments sweeping the entire bunker. After the smoke cleared, there was no sound from inside.

He hurried toward the third bunker without pause.

Chapter 11: Sniper Duel

At 10:14 a.m., a bullet struck the coral reef 30 cm above Hawkins’s head. A Japanese sniper hidden in a coconut tree 80 meters inland had spotted him. Hawkins rolled sharply to the left, hugging the seawall and scanning the grove. The leaves were dense, shadows heavy, making the sniper impossible to find.

This was the home field of sniper training: patient observation, steady breathing, tracking target movement through a scope. But Hawkins’s sniper rifle was still on his back, the scope sealed in a canvas bag. He had no time to set up a shooting position.

The sniper fired again, hitting the seawall and splashing coral dust in his face. Hawkins acted immediately, pulling out a grenade, pulling the pin, and throwing it toward the tree. The grenade exploded in the bushes 15 meters from the tree, and the sniper fire ceased. Either forced to relocate or waiting for another chance.

Hawkins seized the opportunity, dashed 20 meters north, jumped into another drainage ditch, and crawled toward the third bunker. No more shots came from behind.

Chapter 12: The Third Bunker

The third bunker sat at the junction of Beach Red Three and the airfield edge, blocking the northern beach passage while providing flanking fire for the seawall. At 10:29 a.m., Hawkins reached the rear door and clearly heard the roar of the Type 92 machine gun inside. Long bursts mercilessly swept Marines trying to climb the seawall.

He gripped two grenades, pulled the pins, and quickly tossed them into the rear door. The machine gun stopped instantly. He threw one more grenade as a follow-up, and the bunker fell into silence.

Three bunkers destroyed, only one left.

Chapter 13: The Command Post

At 10:45 a.m., Hawkins set off for the fourth bunker—the largest fortification, located 50 meters inland on a coral height overlooking the entire landing field. Intelligence indicated this was the Japanese beach command post, housing officers, communication personnel, and defense coordination.

Hawkins moved through the coconut grove, advancing in a low crouch, using tree trunks and fallen logs for cover. The grove was littered with wreckage, broken trunks, unexploded shells, and bodies.

At 11:03 a.m., he stopped 30 meters from the bunker, finally seeing the full view: one-meter-thick reinforced concrete walls, dense firing slits, a main entrance facing south, and a side door on the east. The bunker was intact, heavily guarded. Hawkins estimated at least twelve people inside. Only 18 grenades remained and three kilograms of TNT—alone, not enough to storm and destroy the bunker. He needed an opportunity.

Chapter 14: The Breakthrough

At 11:17 a.m., a turning point appeared. Destroyers at sea were still firing at inland targets with a round of shelling every few minutes. The sound of shells whistling by and exploding would perfectly mask his movements.

Hawkins held his breath and waited. At 11:21 a.m., a new round of shelling arrived, three shells landing 100 meters to the west. Hawkins lunged from cover and sprinted toward the bunker. He reached the east side door and, before the Japanese could react, tossed in four grenades in succession. The explosions were confined within the bunker, concrete walls compressing the shock waves into a sustained high-pressure gas wave, instantly consuming everyone inside.

Hawkins stepped back, pulled out his last Bangalore torpedo, activated the fuse, pressed it against the main door, and ran 25 meters to dive for cover. The massive explosion collapsed the main door, permanently sealing the command post.

All four bunkers destroyed, the gate to Beach Red Three swung wide open. At noon, Marines finally broke through the seawall and pushed inland. The breakthrough allowed subsequent troops to avoid the death trap of the reef and strike directly at the airfield.

Chapter 15: Clearing the Coast

Hawkins returned to the beach to report to Lieutenant Colonel Amy and was immediately given a new order: clear the remaining fortifications on the beach periphery. Throughout the afternoon, he led six members of his sniper platoon north along the coast, using grenades and Bangalore torpedoes to eliminate isolated bunkers and foxholes one by one. By 4:00 p.m., he had destroyed seven more defensive positions.

At 6:30 p.m., Hawkins borrowed a small knife and pliers from a naval corpsman and pulled out the Type 97 grenade fragment from his left shoulder himself. The wound had gone untreated since 9:00 a.m. and was already inflamed, swollen, and bleeding. The corpsman wanted to inject him with morphine and arranged for evacuation, but Hawkins refused. He wrapped the wound tightly with a bandage, swallowed two sulfa pills, and returned to his platoon.

Chapter 16: The Night

The night of November 20th was relatively quiet. The Japanese did not launch a counterattack, instead contracting their forces to hold the airfield for a final stand. Hawkins slept for three hours in a shell hole near the seawall, his sniper rifle across his chest and remaining grenades within reach.

Chapter 17: The Counterattack

At 6:15 a.m. on November 21st, the Japanese counterattack came as expected. Three hundred Japanese Marines and support troops launched a coordinated assault from the airfield, attempting to drive the Marines back into the sea.

Hawkins was awakened by gunfire. He heard the shouts, the sound of hundreds of boots trampling over the coral reef, and the roar of rifles as the first Japanese soldiers hit the Marine line. He grabbed his sniper rifle and grenades and ran toward the heaviest sound of firing.

At 6:23 a.m., the counterattack hit the beach line. Japanese soldiers with bayonets fixed and grenades in hand charged across open ground toward the seawall. Hawkins took a stand at a gap in the Marine line—a rifle squad here had been pushed back by the initial surge. He raised the Springfield sniper rifle, using iron sights to aim at targets 80 to 120 meters away. A shot rang out, a man fell. Five bullets, five targets, never missing. In the intervals between shots, Hawkins skillfully worked the bolt, ejecting empty shells and loading new bullets from the clip.

At 6:38 a.m., the Japanese counterattack was completely broken. The survivors fled back toward the airfield, leaving 47 bodies on the coral reef.

Chapter 18: The Last Mission

At 8:00 a.m., Hawkins received a new mission: lead a squad to assault the last solid fortification near the airfield, a bunker equipped with a 75 mm coastal gun. Even if the Marines captured the airfield, planes would not be able to land unless this gun was destroyed.

Hawkins gathered eight men, checked their ammunition, and launched the attack at 8:15 a.m. The bunker was 200 meters from the beach, surrounded by foxholes and communication trenches connected to other defensive positions. Hawkins led his team into the communication trench, clearing a fortification with grenades every few yards.

At 9:30 a.m., they arrived at the foot of the bunker. Hawkins clearly saw the 75 mm barrel protruding from the main slit pointing southeast toward the beach. He took the last of his TNT, attached a fuse, and prepared to press it against the bunker door.

Chapter 19: The Sacrifice

At 9:34 a.m., a sharp whistle pierced the sky—a shell from a Japanese field gun was coming from a battery near the airfield command post. The shell landed on the coral reef 19 meters from Hawkins and exploded. The shock wave hurled Hawkins violently into the air. Several fragments pierced his fatigues and lodged in his lower abdomen and lungs. With every breath, salty blood welled up in his mouth.

Hawkins did not lose consciousness. He lay on his back, looking at the sky, his legs unable to move as warm blood spread beneath him. Sergeant Roy Williams crawled over, pressing a bandage firmly against his wound and shouting for a medic. Hawkins shook his head, his eyes fixed on the bunker 15 meters away, still clutching the TNT charge. Williams instantly understood, took the charge, crawled to the bunker door, and pressed the explosives against the wall to detonate them. In a soaring flash of fire, the last bastion turned into ruins.

At 9:41 a.m., a medic arrived, injected Hawkins with morphine, sprinkled sulfa powder on the wound, and attempted a plasma transfusion, but the plasma bag had already been punctured by a fragment. The medic called for an evacuation team, but Hawkins refused to move. He wanted to see the Marines capture the airfield.

At 2:30 p.m., a second round of Japanese artillery covered the bunker area. Several shells landed within 50 meters, and one exploded eight meters from Hawkins. Flame and shock wave consumed him, and this brave assault pioneer died instantly on the spot.

Chapter 20: Legacy

At 3:20 p.m., Sergeant Williams recovered Hawkins’s remains and carried him back to the beach. The remains were registered and sent to a cemetery on a nearby island for burial.

Second Lieutenant James Reed, the deputy commander of G Company, submitted an eyewitness report detailing Hawkins’s heroic deeds. Colonel David Shupe, commander of the Second Marine Regiment, nominated him for the Medal of Honor. In September 1944, the medal was approved, and President Roosevelt presented the Medal of Honor to Hawkins’s mother in a ceremony at the White House. Hawkins’s remains were eventually interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Robert Sherid, then editor of the Saturday Evening Post, wrote of Hawkins: “He led his platoon into the coconut groves and in a day and a half he personally cleared six Japanese machine gun positions. Lieutenant Hawkins was wounded a second time, but he still refused to quit. To say his behavior was in the highest tradition of the Marine Corps is like saying the Empire State Building is only medium height.”

Epilogue: Hawkins Field

On November 24th, 1943, three days after Hawkins’s death, the Tarawa airfield was officially named Hawkins Field. On November 28th, the runway was repaired and opened, allowing Marine aircraft to land and provide close air support for subsequent operations in the Gilbert Islands. This airfield operated throughout World War II, supporting bomber and fighter squadron operations until 1945.

Today, Hawkins Field is a civilian airport with a memorial to William Hawkins standing beside the runway.

Reflection

The regulations for Marine Corps scout sniper platoon never envisioned them participating in frontal assaults. Observation, reporting, and concealed precision shooting were their primary duties. But on November 20th, 1943, Hawkins broke this iron rule. When the landing operation was on the brink of collapse, he used a bag of grenades and explosives to tear open the defenses of Beach Red Three. His feet proved that a sniper’s value goes far beyond long-range killing. The efficiency of grenades and demolition charges in destroying fortifications far exceeds that of rifle fire. Regardless of branch or training background, leading by example is enough to turn the tide of battle.

In 1944, the Marine Corps revised the operational doctrine for scout sniper platoon, incorporating close-range reconnaissance and direct assault into their mission scope. The source of this transformation was battlefield reports documenting Hawkins’s single-handed destruction of five bunkers in two days. He used his hot blood and fearless courage on the most dangerous front lines to carve a path to victory for his comrades.

Remember

This is the story of William Dean Hawkins. If it moved you, please share so more people can know these forgotten histories. Subscribe and turn on notifications. We post unknown historical stories every day. Leave a message in the comments telling us where you are from and sharing whether your family had relatives who participated in World War II.

William Dean Hawkins deserves to be remembered. These people gave everything for the freedom of future generations. And by watching, liking, and sharing, you are keeping their memory alive. Never forget.