Name James Hawkins | ||
Role United States Army officer | ||
James Hawkins, from Maysville, Kentucky, was a Battlefield commissioned Second lieutenant and field operations leader of the United States Army Tiger Force commando unit, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade (Separate), 101st Airborne Division, during the Vietnam War. The unit was featured in the Pulitzer Prize winning book Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War, written by Toledo Blade reporters Michael D. Sallah and Mitch Weiss (the Pulitzer Prize included a third Blade reporter Joe Mahr). The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command investigated the Tiger Force for "atrocities," including torture, maiming, rape, and murder of unarmed villagers, including babies, children, and the elderly, during operations in the Song Ve Valley. The Army did not file charges against Tiger Force soldiers, including their acting platoon leader, Hawkins. The investigations into the atrocities committed by Tiger Force occurred after reports and investigations into atrocities by United States Army soldiers in the My Lai Massacre. Hawkins attributes the lack of charges to the timing of the investigation after My Lai and the potential for additional bad "publicity."