[Annotator’s Note: Interviewee has difficulty speaking at times throughout this segment.] Rawley R. Hill was born in Belle Union, Indiana in September 1923 and grew up in Indianapolis [Annotator’s Note: Indianapolis, Indiana]. He dropped out of school during his sophomore year in 1939 to join the service with his cousin. Although he was discouraged by his educators, he joined the Marine Corps Reserves on 5 February 1940 with his father’s permission. His father thought Hill had a rogue personality and that the military would be good for him. Shortly after signing up, his reserve unit was called to active duty. He was trained at Quantico, Virginia before being posted to Camp Elliott in San Diego, California. He was on an authorized leave when he heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. His sister and his girlfriend helped him get back to camp. His commanders told him to be ready to be shipped out when they received orders. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, there was a severe lack of clear orders and confusion that existed throughout the Marine Corps. He was ready to retaliate against the Japanese for attacking his country. He was eventually placed in the 22nd Marine Ground Defense Unit and assigned to duty guarding the California coast against a possible Japanese invasion. [Annotator’s Note: telephone rings in background and interviewee speaks on the phone at 0:15:28.000-0:17:46.000.]

[Annotator’s Note: Interviewee has difficulty speaking at times throughout the segment.] Rawley R. Hill [Annotator’s Note: assigned to 22nd Marine Ground Defense Unit] was guarding the California coast at North Island after Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. His division was broken down into three sections, and each section was ordered to do guard duty in specific areas. He dug in at the headquarters in a hangar stationed at a .50 caliber machine gun [Annotator's Note: Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun]. After a while, the marine commanders decided to form a group for an invasion unit. After the group was formed, Hill just sat and waited until there were enough troops for training and to go overseas. In late 1942, he boarded a ship bound for service in the Pacific [Annotator’s Note: with the 22nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAG-22)]. His ship was in a convoy. They were constantly waiting for orders. While they were waiting to go overseas, Hill got food poisoning. He was sent to a hospital and missed the convoy’s departure. He was later picked up by a World War 1 [Annotator's Note: World War 1, global war originating in Europe; 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918] troop ship and left San Diego [Annotator’s Note: San Diego, California] for overseas.

[Annotator’s Note: Interviewee has difficulty speaking at times throughout this segment.] After a long wait, Rawley R. Hill [Annotator’s Note: serving in Marine Aircraft Group 22 (MAG-22)] was sent overseas to the Pacific. On the voyage over, the troop ship broke down after only two days out at sea. The two boilers blew up while trying to keep up with the convoy. The ship became a sitting duck and everyone on board was sure that the Japanese would come and sink them because the convoy had left them behind. Hill was put in charge of his detachment because he was the staff sergeant. He was told by the captain to do whatever he had to do for his unit to live on the deck of the ship. The ship bobbed along in the ocean for days until it reached New Caledonia [Annotator’s Note: a French territory consisting of several islands in the South Pacific]. His unit went ashore and the military took all of their equipment and guns. The Navy assigned them to guard duty. His unit continued to train while they were in New Caledonia. Later, his unit received orders to invade Espiritu Santo [Annotator’s Note: Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu] and was then assigned as a guard detachment. All his orders were given by the Navy. He felt his unit was out of place and rarely received orders. His outfit was later taken under the command of another unit and participated in the invasion of Guadalcanal in August 1942 [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal, codenamed Operation Watchtower; 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943; Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands].

[Annotator’s Note: Interviewee has difficulty speaking at times throughout this segment.] Rawley R. Hill [Annotator’s Note: assigned to the 22nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAG-22)] invaded Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal, codenamed Operation Watchtower; 7 August 1942 to 9 February 1943; Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands] in August 1942. At Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, Hill and his men repulsed a Japanese counterattack on the airfield with the 1st Marine Division. [Annotator’s Note: A doorbell rings at 0:49:23.000.] Hill’s unit’s responsibility was to guard the aircraft from the Japanese. He felt that he had a job to do, and he needed to do it well. He guarded the aircraft until they were released to the Army a few months later. Hill contracted malaria and was sent back to San Francisco [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California] to recover before rejoining his outfit in Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan] near the end of the war. [Annotator’s Note: A telephone rings and someone comes into the room at 0:54:44.000-055:37.000.] Hill was discharged in late 1945 as a staff sergeant. [Annotator’s Note: A woman’s voice interjects at 1:00:04.000.] Hill took advantage of the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] and returned to school. [Annotator’s Note: A woman in the background asks for the interview to stop. Video break at 1:02:01.293.]