Noted veterans' advocate Earl Hopper dies

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Posted at 10:42 on Sunday 20 July 2008 by POW/MIA Chairman in General News

AZ Central.com - AZ, USA

Noted veterans' advocate Earl Hopper dies
by Lily Leung - Jul. 20, 2008 08:47 PM
The Arizona Republic

Earl P. Hopper Sr.'s fight for the rights of servicemen who were captured or missing in action began when his oldest son went missing in North Vietnam in January 1968.

Though his mission began with one person, Earl P. Hopper Jr., what fueled it was a band of brothers who had been "knowingly, wantingly" left behind by the U.S. government, said his wife, Patty.

Hopper Sr., an 86-year-old Glendale native and a noted POW/MIA advocate, died July 11.
Services for the retired Army colonel will be Friday at the Chapel of Chimes Mortuary, 7924 N. 59th Avenue, Glendale, from 5 to 8 p.m.

On numerous occasions, Hopper Sr. served as a leading expert before Congressional hearings on behalf of those missing or captured in war. He was also a key figure in two lawsuits in the 1970s that were integral in the eventual reform of the Missing Persons Act.

"He would do anything, work with anyone who would work with him to help resolve this issue and to help make sure these kinds of travesties never happen again," said Patty Hopper.

The couple met through their work with the National League of Families, an organization for family members of POW/MIA's from the Vietnam War.

She had lost a classmate. He had lost his son.

Hopper Sr., who had a 30-year military career, was elected to the board of directors in 1973 and served until 1984, when he was chairman.

He and his wife continued their work with families of POWS/MIAs when they became two of four founders of Task Force Omega, which began in 1983. The research-driven organization has concentrated its effort on the return of the POWs abandoned in Vietnam and Laos after the Vietnam War.

The group regularly researches POWs and MIAs, resulting in comprehensive biographies.

Hopper Sr. was the youngest of eight children and had grown up on a farm in then-rural Glendale. He had a paper route as a kid, loved pranks and was considered a good athlete at Glendale High School, his wife said.

He enlisted in with the Arizona National Guard in 1940 and served with distinction in the World War II with the 101st Airborne Division.

During the Korean War, he was with military intelligence, and he was an advisor to a South Vietnamese Brigade during the Vietnam War.

"He had an extremely finite sense of right and wrong, and he had the most remarkable mind," said Patty Hopper.

Donations in Hopper Sr.'s name may be sent to Task Force Omega, 14043 N. 64th Drive, Glendale.

Information: 623-979-5651.

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