The following request was posted on the Timberwolves Facebook page ( 104th Infantry Division National Timberwolf Association ): Adrie Rens Hi you all If there is any info known on my adopted graves I would appreciate to hear about it. S SG Roy C. Hill ID: 39079446 Entered the Service from: California 415th Infantry Regiment Died: 29-Oct-44 This must happened somewhere near Sprundel where I live 1 LT Robert A. Olmsted ID: O1107006 Entered the Service From: Wisconsin 329th Engineer Combat Bn Died: 06-nov-44 -------------------------------- [Following is information I ve found. Although there is a good probability the facts are correct, it is not guaranteed. (John R. Holmes)] S SG ROY C. HILL: 1. Working backwards a bit we confirm that SSG Roy C. Hill is buried at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetary. http://www.abmc.gov/search/wwii_list.php (Input Hill Roy on this page and get the results, press GO to see the specific page for Roy C. Hill, reproduced below. Note the Army Service # matches.)
AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION Roy C. Hill Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army Service # 39079446 415th Infantry Regiment, 104th Infantry Division Entered the Service from: California Died: 29-Oct-44 Buried at: Plot E Row 4 Grave 55 Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery Henri-Chapelle, Belgium Awards: Silver Star, Purple Heart The following link confirms his place of enlistment (reproduced below): http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/sanjoaquin/military/ww2/ enlistment/armyenli609nmt.txt San Joaquin County CA Archives Military Records...Army Enlistments Names Hendrick - Hughes WWII - Enlistment SER. NO. NAME PLACE OF ENLISTMENT 39079446 HILL ROY C SACRAMENTOCALIFORNIA
DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY MONTH YEAR NATIVITY 9 4 41 OKLAHOMA BIRTH GRADE BRANCH 15 Private Branch 2. The next link shows SSG Hill was the recipient of a Posthumous Silver Star Award. Note that Hill was in the Medical Detachment. http://www.104infdiv.org/star415.htm *HILL, ROY C. S/Sgt. G.O. #20, 1 Dec 44, 104 th Inf. Div. S/Sgt. Roy D. HILL, Medical Detachment, left his covered position on 30 October to give aid to the wounded of his company and other units as well, losing his own life during the action. * Posthumous Award 3. Following is another reference to the Silver Star Award: http://www.homeofheroes.com/members/04_ss/2_wwii/indexes/army/ Army-H.html Hill, Roy C. HQ, 104th Infantry Division, G.O. No. 20 (1944) Hill, Roy C. HQ, 104th Infantry Division, G.O. No. 110 (1945) Note: While MOST are orders authorizing the award, and in those cases wherein a name is identified more than once it usually indicates an additional award, in some cases the G.O. cited may be a correction to an earlier award. Only by obtaining the original G.O. can you determine what action it represents. 4. The Enlistment Record above states Nativity (place of birth?) Oklahoma and Year of Birth 15 (1915). The next link shows a Roy C Hill dying in Belgium on the same date, born in 1914 (close enough in those days) and born in Topeka, Kansas instead of Oklahoma. http://records.ancestry.com/roy_c_hill_records.ashx?pid=28847980
Roy C Hill (1914-1944) Born in Topeka, Kansas, USA on 5 Apr 1914. He passed away on 29 Oct 1944 in Beligum. (This makes it likely that SSG Hill, born about 1914 or 1915, is from Kansas, not Oklahoma, so we search U.S. Census records for Kansas. It is at this point that we assume the Roy C Hill from Kansas is our Timberwolf. There were no other Roy C Hills in proximity from which to choose, so we are likely on the right track.) 1920 United States Federal Census record for Roy 5. The 1930 U.S. Census Record for Osage City, Osage County, Kansas shows Roy C. Hill, age 14 (making him born around 1915). (Full page reproduction is on next page.) What is helpful here is that we find his father, Charles A. Hill, mother, Mary E. Hill (her father born in Northern Ireland), brother Ned R. age 18, and another brother Marvin C. age 16. The 1930 full page shows the father s occupation as Miner, Coal Mine and the mother s occupation as Operator, Telephone. The 1920 Census confirms the age of Roy Hill and actually shows the birthplace as Oklahoma, confirming the enlistment record and that we have the correct Roy C. Hill: (Full page reproduction follows.) The 1910 Census does not show Roy yet, of course, but shows an infant daughter, Erma, who does not appear on later census and must have died in childhood. (See full page reproduction, 2 pages.) Record Index Source Information Name: Roy Hill Home in 1920: Osage, Osage, Kansas Age: 4 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1916 Record URL: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-b h=50751083&db=1920usfedcen&indiv=try Source Citation: Year: 1920;Census Place: Osage, Osage, Kansa
6. The following link lists many of the Hill family members in the Osage City Cemetary, Osage County, Kansas http://www.interment.net/data/us/ks/osage/osagecity/ osage_city_hj.htm Hill, Ned Ryan, b. 17 Sep 1911, d. 6 Mar 1982, PFC US Army WWII ----------------------------- Hill, Charles A, b. 1884, d. 1932 (Father) Hill, Mary Etta, b. 1890, d. 1946 (Mother) Hill, Erma A, b. 1910, d. 1914 (Infant sister) Another Hill is listed who may be related. 7. Roy Hill s mother s obituary follows: http://genealogytrails.com/kan/osage/obits2.html#maryhill Mother s obituary: HILL, MARY E. Mrs. Mary E. Hill Dies in Topeka Mrs. Mary E. Hill passed away Tuesday evening, August 13, at Topeka, Kansas, at the age of 56. She was a former resident of Osage City, living here for the greater part of her life. She has lived in Topeka the last four years. Funeral services will be held from the McElfresh Mortuary at 2:30 Saturday afternoon. (The Journal Free Press, Wednesday, August 14, 1946, transcribed by Jim Laird)
8. In addition to learning the history, it would be valuable to find living family descendants and let them know their Fallen Soldiers are still honored. Due to identity security, the Census search becomes more difficult. From Ancestry.com: There is a 72-year privacy restriction on U.S. censuses, which means that the 1940 census will not be available to the public until April 2012. There may be other means. Thank goodness for the Internet to assist us in getting this far. Can you imagine trying to seek out these records physically in person?