PROFILE OF A MUSEUM VOLUNTEER: ARTHUR J. HILL

Arthur Hill, at age 27, volunteered for the Army Engineers shortly after Pearl Harbor.  Because of his construction background, he was sent to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, early in 1942 to a Special Service Engineer Regiment.  On December 23, 1942, Art graduated from O.C.S. and the Heavy Equipment School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, as a Second Lieutenant.  At Camp Swift, Texas, he was assigned to the 146 Engineer (C) Battalion as the Headquarters Company Commander with the additional duty of Battalion Motor Officer.   He held this command, as Captain, with various additional duties until war's end.  While at England's North Coastal area of Saunton Sands, the battalion helped build and operate an assault training center of enemy fortifications duplicated from secret aerial reconnaissance photos of the landing beaches and Seigfried line defenses.  This led to the spearheading of Omaha Beach “D Day” landings at “H” hour plus 3 minutes across the English Channel on the 6^th of June 1944. The five European campaigns followed Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe.

Following the German Collapse, the 146th (C) Engineers, and other Engineer groups of V Corps, were assisting with the debris clearance and restoration of utilities of battered Pilsen, Czechoslovakia.  In Pilsen, Art was named director of the XXII Corps Heavy Equipment School for approximately 65 Czech civil engineers and equipment operators from the V, VII and XXII Corps.

While the U.S. was still at war with Japan, some men were thinking of home, others with fewer points were thinking of their possible transfer to the Pacific theatre.  Art lacked less than one point of the amount required for discharge and was slated as Base Commander at one of several embarkation centers for upgrading facilities for pending troop movements.  He was at the Biarritz American University (Engineer school) in Southern France making preparations when he learned he had received a Foreign Award, the Czech Military Medal.  Now with enough points for discharge, the several jumps in grade no longer enticed him.  He returned to Czechoslovakia to say good-bye once again to his fellow officers and troops.

Upon returning home, after his January 8, 1946 discharge, Art was in the petroleum industry for over 30 years.  During his semi-retirement years of 1975 – 1979, he served as the nine (9) western states representative for the Shell Oil Company National Jobber Council. He retired in 1980 as president and owner of Hill Oil Company.  Art and his wife B.J. (now deceased) were married over 50 years.  Their son Brad is a Superior Court Judge and a lifetime honorary member of the Legion of Valor.

Since April 1992, Art has enjoyed his volunteer work at the museum and is also a lifetime honorary member of the Legion of Valor. He became the LOV Museums Director in July 2001 and continues in that position.  He also served during 1995-96 as the American Legion Commander of Fresno Post  #4.