Oral History Interview with Robert Hill, May 11, 2001 Page: Title Page

Transcript of an oral interview with Robert Hill. Born on a farm north of Des Moines, Iowa in 1922. He enlisted in the Navy at the age of 19 in 1942. He trained at the National School of Electronics in Chicago as a Radio Technician and on to Great Lakes, Illinois for basic training. After boot camp he was sent to Radioman School in Wisconsin and Signalman School in Los Angeles. He was then assigned to the Armed Guard crew aboard a merchant tanker, the SS Vermont, as a Radioman. He describes carrying high octane gas from the Texas Gulf Coast up the East Coast. He transferred from the Vermont to the SS RP Smith. He describes how the Vermont subsequently left Galveston with a full load of fuel and was sunk by a German submarine with no survivors. He next reported to Washington D.C. where he volunteered for assignment with the Sino-American Cooperative Organization. He got underway on a troopship and sailed to Calcutta, where he was flown over "The Hump" into Kunming, China and was flown on to the east coast of China to Camp Six in Zhenzghou, China. From there he was sent to Quemoy Island to report on the activities on Amoy Island (Xiamen today) where 8,000 Japanes marines were stationed. His reports went to Camp Six which would transmit them to Chungking for use by the 14th Air Force. He describes his experiences among the local population while on Coastwatcher duty. When the war ended, he was at Amoy. Next he traveled to Shanghai where he helped build a radio station. In November 1945 he sailed on a troopship back to the United States where he was discharged in Minnesota.