JAMES HOPKINS

When War II was declared, James Hopkins left his surgical practice at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and volunteered for military duty in the Army Medical Corps. While serving in the Fiji Islands and seeing the many battle casualties in Guadalcanal, Dr. Hopkins left his plush assignment and volunteered for duty with a forward combat unit in various Soloman Island battles where he served as battalion surgeon with the 148th Regiment, Ohio National Guard. When the call came from the president for experienced combat troops for a dangerous and hazardous mission, he volunteered again and went with the unit that would eventually be known as the Merrill's Marauders, where he gained the highest respect from the men in his battalion during that entire campaign he marched step-by-step with the men ministering to their many needs and although unarmed, repeatedly exposed himself to care for the wounded by documenting all his medical records during the entire operation during a period of 7 months behind enemy lines. He worked with the War department and was instrumental in the improvement of the helmet to protect head and neck and also in his concern for the safety of GI's was instrumental in the development of the lightweight combat vests. His decorations include the Bronze Star, Combat Medical Badge, Presidential Unit Citation, Asiatic-Pacific Service Medal and American Defense Medal.