HILL, JOSEPH ARNOLD

Name: Joseph Arnold Hill
Rank/Branch: E3/US Marine Corps
Unit: Company B, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division
Date of Birth: 22 December 1947
Home City of Record: Taylorville IL
Date of Loss: 28 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 154700N 1075444E (YC988430)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 1195

Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 1998.

Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: On 28 May 1968, LCpl. Joseph A. Hill was on patrol with his unit
near the Song Buong river in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam, when the
unit came under enemy attack. Hill suffered fragmentation wounds from a
grenade and was killed. Due to the tactical situation, the unit was forced
to withdraw, leaving Hill behind. The reconnaissance patrol had been
operating some 20 miles southwest of the city of Da Nang.

Hill, according to teammembers, is dead. His name is listed with honor among
the missing because no remains were ever recovered to send home. For others
who are missing, however, resolution is not as simple. Some were known to
have been captured, only to disappear from the prison systems. Others were
alive and well and in radio contact with would-be rescuers, describing an
approaching enemy. Still others simply disappeared.

Since American involvement in Southeast Asia ended, the U.S. Government has
reviewed "several million documents" and conducted over 250,000 interviews
related to Americans still missing in Indochina. The weight of this and
privately collected reports has convinced many authorities that hundreds of
Americans remain alive in captivity in Southeast Asia.

Although Joseph Hill may not be among those thought to be still alive, one
can imagine his gladly taking part in one more mission to help bring his
comrades to freedom. What are we doing to bring our men home?