Hill, Edwin Joseph, C.B.

Edwin Joseph Hill was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on either October 4, 1894 or 1895 to John J. and Helen Hill. The 1900 census lists Edwin as the 6th of 8 children. There are multiple documents with conflicting birth information, his headstone shows 1895.

Hill enlisted in the Navy on February 14, 1912 and was discharged October 2, 1915. He re-enlisted on October 11, 1915 and accepted a temporary appointment as Boatswain on November 3, 1918. In April 1919, he was ordered to duty in Submarine Chaser #104 at Key West Florida, and later assumed command of that vessel.

From 1920 to 1922 he served on the USS Hancock, USS Ontario and USS Birmingham. He received a warrant as Boatswain on August 5, 1920. He married Catherine Coughlin on October 28, 1920. He served on the Receiving Ship San Francisco, and at the Puget Sound Navy Yard from 1922-1924, when he went aboard the USS Maryland and was later transferred to the USS Pennsylvania. While aboard this vessel, he was commissioned Chief Boatswain from October 21, 1924.

Hill was at the Navy Yard at Norfolk, from 1927 to May 1929. He was aboard the USS Idaho from May 7, 1929, to August 3, 1932, when he went to the Naval Academy for duty in the USS Reina Mercedes (station ship). From 1934 to 1939 he served on the USS Saratoga and at the Receiving Station in Philadelphia.

In January 1940, he reported to the Naval Station, at New Orleans, Louisiana, as officer in charge of Navy Personnel, prior to and during operations of towing dry dock YFD-2 to Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on April 12, 1940. The Dry Dock arrived at Pearl Harbor on August 23, 1940. (Hawaii was still a Territory, it did not become a state until 1959.)

On July 18, 1940, Hill was assigned to the Fourteenth Naval District, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, for temporary service on YFD-2. He reported in on August 24, 1940. He served there until he was detached from YFD-2 on September 20th that same year. On October 12, 1940, he was assigned to the USS Nevada and reported to the ship on October 31, 1940.

Hill was a member of the Nevada crew on 7 December 1941 when Japanese aircraft from at least four fleet carriers attacked Pearl Harbor just before 8:00 a.m. General quarters was immediately sounded and at 8:02 a.m., Nevadaâ??s machine guns opened fire on enemy torpedo planes approaching on the port beam. One plane was brought down by machine gun fire, but another dropped a torpedo which struck Nevada on the port bow.

The Nevada was moored singly off Ford Island, and thus had maneuverability that the other six battleships along â??Battleship Rowâ?? didnâ??t have. As her gunners were firing at the enemy, her engineers got up steam and the ship was underway by 8:40 a.m. making her way down the channel to escape the harbor and break out into open water.

Hillâ??s actions that day are not explicitly detailed and his citation doesnâ??t reveal a great deal of information but it notes two separate actions.

The recently published book, Pearl Harborâ??s Hidden Heroes, provides a glimpse. â??According to the commanding officer's report, under enemy fire and at â??the height of the enemy attack,â?? Hill led his men to the quays at F-8 and, under fire, cast off the lines. Apparently, the ship began leaving the berth, or had left the berth, without him since the MOH citation and the commanding officer's report note that he had to swim back to the shipâ??

The USS Nevadaâ??s ship history records, â??while engaging the multiple aircraft, Nevada made her way down the channel to escape the harbor and break out into open water. Given the damage to the ship, however, and fearing she might be sunk in the harborâ??s entrance, effectively bottling up the fleet, it was decided to ground her in the shallows off Hospital Point.

This is when the second part of Hillâ??s actions occurred. Again, quoting from Pearl Harborâ??s Hidden Heroes, â??He was on the forecastle (area of the ship's deck forward of the foremast) trying to release the anchors when he was blown overboard and killed by the explosion of several bombs. He was obviously trying to assist in grounding the ship.â?? The Commanding Officers report summarized Hillâ??s conduct as â??His performance of duty and devotion to duty was outstanding.â?? The Nevadaâ??s ship log noted that the bomb that hit the forecastle struck at 9:07 a.m.

Hill was survived by his widow Catherine and three children.

Hillâ??s award of the Medal of Honor was announced on March 15, 1942. His citation reads: â??For distinguished conduct in the line of his profession, extraordinary courage, and disregard of his own safety during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. During the height of the strafing and bombing, Chief Boatswain Hill led his men of the linehandling details of the U.S.S. Nevada to the quays, cast off the lines and swam back to his ship. Later, while on the forecastle, attempting to let go the anchors, he was blown overboard and killed by the explosion of several bombs.â??

As were many of the early awards of the Medal of Honor during WWII, Hillâ??s Medal appears to have been mailed to his widow via registered mail but to date, no presentation information or newspaper articles about her receiving it have surfaced. Hill was buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Section A, Site 895), in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Before his death, Hill co-wrote a poem called Eight Bells (And All Is Well). Exactly when he and Lieutenant Jack Garrett wrote it is unclear but after Hillâ??s death it was put to music by Hawaiian musicians Don George and Johnny Noble. The Honolulu Star announced in January 1942 that the song would be performed by a Navy band at a USO program â??soonâ??. A second article in The Honolulu Advertiser reported that Hill had requested the musicians assistance just days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. An unnamed newspaper article date stamped September 29, 1942 states that the song would be sold and that Hillâ??s family would receive â??a substantial share of the proceeds from the sale of â??Eight Bells.â??â??

Hill received several tributes. In December 1942, the Farragut Naval Training Station in northern Idaho named one of its training camps for him.

Another tribute came in the form of Destroyer Escort USS Hill (DE-141) which was named for him. The ship was launched February 28, 1943, by the Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Texas and sponsored by his widow Catherine. The ship was in service until 1946.

The former Farragut Naval Training Station is now an Idaho State Park. A sign commemorating Hill stands at the former Camp Hill.

In the 7 December 1941 attack, the USS Nevada suffered 50 crewmembers killed and 109 wounded. The ship sustained at least six, and possibly, as many as ten bomb hits and one torpedo hit on the port side. While the damage to Nevada was considerable, the grounding of the ship ensured that she could be repaired and returned to action. She was repaired and participated in the 1943 recapture of the Alaskan island of Attu as well as the D-Day, Iwo Jima and Okinawa invasions.

Compiled by Gayle Alvarez, Medal of Honor Historical Society

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Sources and additional reading for Edwin J. Hill

54th Annual Reunion Army and Navy Legion of Valor, New York, 1944 (contains short biographies of both posthumous and living recipients)

Pearl Harborâ??s Hidden Heroes: The 18 Medals of Honor Awarded for Bravery in the Hawaiian Islands During World War II: 1941, 1942, and 1945, Colonel Charles A. Jones, USMCR, Retired, CreateSpace, 2017.

USS Nevada history 

http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/36a.htm

USS Hill history 

http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/141.htm

Farragut Naval Training Station (Images of America) Gayle E. Alvarez and Dennis Woolford, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, SC, 2009