"Bud" Hill was supplying a lost detachment of soldiers when a mountain got in the way.

Edwin C. "Bud" Hill was born on October 21, 1916, to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hill. Bud, along with a brother and sister, grew up in the small mountain community of Ben Lomond in the San Lorenzo Valley and attended local schools. In 1930 he began classes at Santa Cruz High School where he majored in engineering.

Following his graduation in 1934, Hill worked for a short period at a Ben Lomond store. He then enrolled in San Jose State College and graduated with a BS degree in December 1941.

Immediately after his graduation, Hill joined the Army Air Corps's cadet program in Santa Ana. That program included flying school at Visalia, gunnery school in Las Vegas and finally navigator school at Mather Field near Sacramento. In March 1943, Edwin Hill graduated and received his wings with a second lieutenant commission.

When the Japanese invaded Attu, an island in the Aleutian Island chain in Alaska, the US responded. Lt. Hill was sent to the 21st AAF Bomb Squadron that was assisting in its recapture.

On May 14, 1943, Hill's plane was sent to Attu to deliver supplies to a detachment of Americans soldiers that had become separated from their unit. The aircraft was attempting to climb out of a valley when it crashed into the side of a mountain, killing Bud and the other members of the crew.

Lt. Edwin C. (Bud) Hill was posthumously awarded the Air Medal and is buried at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno.

(USDVA, SCHSC, Pg. 11; SCSn June 17, 1943 1:7, May 21, 1943 1:3)