By Deborah Larsen
Melvin Arnold Hopkins
Melvin Arnold Hopkins was born in Detroit, Michigan, on November 11, 1911, the son of Leslie and Catharina Lieflander Hopkins. The Hopkins family moved to Rochester, Michigan, in 1923 and lived in a house at 621 West Fifth Street that Melvin’s great-uncle had built in 1916. Melvin attended Rochester High School and graduated in the class of 1930.
After high school, Melvin married and started a family. He worked at Wolverine Tube Company in Detroit before the war.
Melvin entered the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 413th Infantry Regiment of the 104th Infantry Division. He was overseas for about a month before he was killed in action on November 23, 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge. His regiment was involved in heavy combat in the vicinity of Putzlohn, Germany, at the time.
Melvin left behind a wife and three children. He was laid to rest at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Liege, Belgium.