HAWKS, LLOYD C.
Rank and organization: Private First Class,
U.S. Army, Medical Detachment, 30th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date:
Near Carano, Italy, 30 January 1944. Entered service at: Park Rapids, Minn. Born:
13 January 1911, Becker, Minn. G.O. No: 5, 15 January 1945.
Citation:
For gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. On 30
January 1944, at 3 p.m., near Carano, Italy, Pfc. Hawks braved an enemy counterattack in
order to rescue 2 wounded men who, unable to move, were Iying in an exposed position
within 30 yards of the enemy. Two riflemen, attempting the rescue, had been forced to
return to their fighting holes by extremely severe enemy machinegun fire, after crawling
only 10 yards toward the casualties. An aid man, whom the enemy could plainly identify as
such, had been critically wounded in a similar attempt. Pfc. Hawks, nevertheless, crawled
50 yards through a veritable hail of machinegun bullets and flying mortar fragments to a
small ditch, administered first aid to his fellow aid man who had sought cover therein,
and continued toward the 2 wounded men 50 yards distant. An enemy machinegun bullet
penetrated his helmet, knocking it from his head, momentarily stunning him. Thirteen
bullets passed through his helmet as it lay on the ground within 6 inches of his body.
Pfc. Hawks, crawled to the casualties, administered first aid to the more seriously
wounded man and dragged him to a covered position 25 yards distant. Despite continuous
automatic fire from positions only 30 yards away and shells which exploded within 25
yards, Pfc. Hawks returned to the second man and administered first aid to him. As he
raised himself to obtain bandages from his medical kit his right hip was shattered by a
burst of machinegun fire and a second burst splintered his left forearm. Displaying dogged
determination and extreme self-control, Pfc. Hawks, despite severe pain and his dangling
left arm, completed the task of bandaging the remaining casualty and with superhuman
effort dragged him to the same depression to which he had brought the first man. Finding
insufficient cover for 3 men at this point, Pfc. Hawks crawled 75 yards in an effort to
regain his company, reaching the ditch in which his fellow aid man was lying.
