William Benjamin Hopkins

Education

He graduated from Washington and Lee University a semester early in 1942 so he could join the United States Marine Corps.

Career

He served in the South Pacific during World World War II as part of the Marine"s island-hopping operations including Guadalcanal and Bougainville. After returning home, he joined the Marine Corps Reserve and earned a law degree in 1949 from the University of Virginia Law School. He began practicing law in Roanoke, but was recalled to active duty in 1950 at the beginning of the Korean War.

He served as commander of H & South Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Division in the fall and winter of 1950 and was at the Chosin Reservoir and participated in the Chosin breakout when the Marines and United Nations forces were surrounded by tens of thousands of Chinese troops.

The Chosin battle was conducted in minus 35-degree weather. Later, he was wounded in January 1951, spent a year at Portsmouth Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, Virginia and returned to his Roanoke law practice in April 1952.

Hopkins was a lifelong Democrat and for several years was chairman of the Roanoke City Democratic Committee. He was elected in 1959 to the Virginia State Senate, where he served from 1960-1980.

He was Senate majority leader from 1972-1976.

From 1973-1978 he served as chairman of the Commission on State Government Management and Reorganization, known as the "Hopkins Commission."

During his State Senate years, he was instrumental in the fight to repeal the poll tax as a condition for voting. He also helped Governor Mills East. Godwin Junior. (1966-1970) in the establishment of the Virginia Community College System.

He was defeated for re-election in 1979.

He continued to practice law until 2009 when he retired at age 87. Hopkins was the author of two books based on his war experiences.

The paperback editions of both books are still in print.

Achievements

• "One Bugle, Number Drums: The Marines at Chosin Reservoir," published in 1986 and described as "one of the best first person memoirs of the Korean War." In 2008 his book, "The Pacific War: The Strategy, Politics, and Players that Won the War," was published.

Membership

Foreign years he was chairman of the State Senator"s Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns and was a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee.