 |
NAME Donald Wayne Hill |
NICKNAME — |
SERVICE NUMBER 299689 |
|
| UNIT Marine Detachment USS Houston |
HOME OF RECORD 307 Elm Avenue Elmhurst, IL |
NEXT OF KIN Parents, Clarence & Laura Hill |
||
| DATE OF BIRTH ~ 1923 location unknown |
ENTERED SERVICE October 18, 1940 at Chicago, IL |
DATE OF LOSS April 8, 1942 |
||
| REGION Java |
CAMPAIGN / AREA Serang |
CASUALTY TYPE Died While POW |
||
| CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS Private Donald W. Hill served as a member of the Marine detachment aboard the cruiser USS Houston (CA-30). He participated in the battles of Makassar Strait and Sunda Strait; when the Houston sank in the latter engagement, Hill managed to escape and was captured by Japanese forces. Sailors and Marines from the Houston were held in a movie theater in Serang, Java, under deplorable conditions. Diseases began to run through their ranks, compounded by malnutrition. Private Hill contracted dysentery and lacked the physical strength and will to fight. Continually mumbling “This is not the way my mother made bread,” Hill was carried out of the theater and died in the courtyard on 8 April 1942. Donald Hill was reportedly buried in the Serang Cemetery, but the exact location was not known. Post-war investigations failed to find his remains. |
||||
| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS Prisoner of War Medal |
LAST KNOWN RANK Private First Class |
STATUS OF REMAINS Not recovered |
MEMORIALS Manila American Cemetery |
|
Biography:
Contact the webmaster for more information about this Marine.
Articles & Records:
