World War II Honoree

William Sylvester Hileman

Branch of Service

U.S. Navy

Hometown

Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania

Honored By

Larry "Mose" Claar

Relationship

Great Grandson

My great-grandfather was trained at a US naval base in Gulfport, Mississippi, and was placed on the USS Robert F. Stockton. From the Stockton, he was on the SS Florida for a month and lastly on the SS Gauntlet for his last two months at sea. From July to October of 1944, when he was finally pulled from sea duty, he spent most of his days in late 1944 and 45 on the naval bases and in several different naval hospitals in New York. He was suffering from jaundice, gonorrhea, Hodgkin’s disease, and several other diseases that were contracted overseas. It was at the Brooklyn Naval Hospital, where he had to undergo surgery to have a lump cut out of his neck. The surgery was needed in order to treat his Hodgkin’s disease, which was listed as a pre-existing condition from his childhood. Throughout his service and stays at stations/hospitals, he still continued to write to my grandmother. My great-grandfather and grandmother were wed on one of his home trips on January 17, 1945, in Hollidaysburg, Pa., at the Church of the Brethren. He was still undergoing treatment at the naval hospital and staying at the base in Albany, New York. Around October of 1945, he was finally medically discharged after recovering from his ailments. It reads the final straw leading to his discharge as being an allergic reaction to his blue naval uniform. It said he was suffering from severe eczema that was being caused by the different types of fabric.