Noted veterans' advocate Earl Hopper dies

Noted veterans' advocate Earl Hopper dies

by Lily Leung - Jul. 21, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Earl P. Hopper Sr.'s fight for the rights of troops who were captured or missing in action began when his oldest son, Earl P. Hopper Jr., disappeared in North Vietnam in 1968.

Though his mission began with one person, 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., a Glendale native and noted advocate for captured and missing troops, died July 11. He was 86.

Services for the retired Army colonel will be 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Chapel of Chimes Mortuary, 7924 N. 59th Ave., Glendale.

On numerous occasions, Hopper Sr. served as a leading expert in hearings before congressional committees on behalf of those missing or captured in war.

He was a key figure in two lawsuits in the 1970s that were integral in the 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," Patty Hopper said.

The couple met through their work with the National League of Families, an organization for family members of captured and missing service troops 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 organization's board of directors in 1973 and served until 1984, when he had become its chairman.

He and his wife continued their work with the families of captured and missing troops and became founders of Task Force Omega 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 the lives of captured and missing troops, producing comprehensive biographies.

Hopper Sr. was the youngest of eight children and grew 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 World War II with the 101st Airborne Division.

During the Korean War, he worked with military intelligence; he was an adviser 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," Patty Hopper said.

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

For more information, call 623-979-5651.
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SALUTE and TAPS for a true American Hero a veteran

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