Oliver Hill Sr. (Wolf Clan) served in the Army, and like Exandine Shenandoah, the war was a subject he rarely talked about. He was stationed in the Philippines.
“The war experience devastated my father and shaped the remainder of his life,” said Karen Dockstader (Turtle Clan). “It affected him deeply and haunted him his entire life.”
Oliver, a private first class, was a member of an engineering platoon that built pontoon bridges. As with so many WWII vets, Oliver was reticent on the topic of his war experience.
“The only part of his service my father talked about was his boxing,” said Clint Hill, Turtle Clan Councilmember. “On the transport boat, my dad would represent his battalion in boxing matches. He said it helped pass the time. Nobody at home could believe it because he was a skinny, wiry guy about 5 feet 8 inches tall.”
A version of this story first appeared in The Oneida, Issue 9, Vol. 8 in November 2005 and was edited for the web.
