World War II Honoree

John B. Hill

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Atlanta, Georgia

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Private First Class. On April 7, 1943, he was inducted into the United States Marine Corps at Richmond, Virginia. His boot camp training took place with the Twelfth Recruit Battalion Training Regiment; Marine Corps Base at Parris Island, South Carolina. Later he completed his Marine Combat Training at Camp Geiger, North Carolina. Served with the Twenty-Second Marine Regiment in the Territory of Hawaii, assigned to Fox Company, Second Battalion and Fifth Amphibious Corps. He died in the Line of Duty during a training accident, while participating in field maneuvers on Pauwela Point, Hawaii. Two U.S. Navy SBD-Dauntless Dive Bombers carrying live ordnance collided over the Point on December 6, 1943, and one bomb was dislodged, detonating among the trainees. Twenty Marines lost their lives and twenty five were injured from this incident. This Marine was interred in the Makawao Cemetery, Wailukii, Hawaii. After the cessation of hostilities with Japan, the family received his remains for burial, with interment at the Marietta National Cemetery in Marietta, Georgia.