Mr. Hill was featured in a story by the late sporting author Nash Buckingham titled "Decorations" in his book "Blood Lines." In that story, Mr. Buckingham describes his introduction to the young Mr. Hill (then approximately 10-years-old and known as Mike) and his mother Anna on the property of the famous Beaver Dam Ducking Club near Tunica, Mississippi. She was encamped there with Mike and her second husband Bob Friley, who was working the area as a fur trapper with the permission of the Club's landlord, Dr. Owen.
Mike's father, Marvin Hill, had been the Captain of a little transfer steamboat in Kentucky, but died, as Mr. Buckingham relates, as the result of a collision and fire after which he, "...went back a third time to try to save an old negro woman." Of Mike's stepfather, Mr. Buckingham stated, "He wasn't a bad man--just jealous of the boy and mean to him." Mike endured beatings and privation at his hands. As a result, Mike ran away in 1914 to live with an aunt in Kentucky. Prior to his departure, Mr. Buckingham asked, "What do you think you'd like to be, Mike?" And Mike, wallowing his boots around in the muddy water, grinned shyly and then looked me straight in the eye: "I guess I'd try t' join th' army."
Mike enlisted in 1916, served during World War I , and was decorated at Amiens for valor. Of that, Mr. Buckingham wrote, "I recalled in a flash that the official communique read to Marvin Hill--son of Anna's first husband, the big, blond Kentuckian who perished when their little steamboat burned and Captain Hill lingered too long, trying to save just one more life. I said to myself, like father like son, when the big moment came."
Contributor: Hunter TRW
Mike's father, Marvin Hill, had been the Captain of a little transfer steamboat in Kentucky, but died, as Mr. Buckingham relates, as the result of a collision and fire after which he, "...went back a third time to try to save an old negro woman." Of Mike's stepfather, Mr. Buckingham stated, "He wasn't a bad man--just jealous of the boy and mean to him." Mike endured beatings and privation at his hands. As a result, Mike ran away in 1914 to live with an aunt in Kentucky. Prior to his departure, Mr. Buckingham asked, "What do you think you'd like to be, Mike?" And Mike, wallowing his boots around in the muddy water, grinned shyly and then looked me straight in the eye: "I guess I'd try t' join th' army."
Mike enlisted in 1916, served during World War I , and was decorated at Amiens for valor. Of that, Mr. Buckingham wrote, "I recalled in a flash that the official communique read to Marvin Hill--son of Anna's first husband, the big, blond Kentuckian who perished when their little steamboat burned and Captain Hill lingered too long, trying to save just one more life. I said to myself, like father like son, when the big moment came."
Contributor: Hunter TRW
Mr. Hill was featured in a story by the late sporting author Nash Buckingham titled "Decorations" in his book "Blood Lines." In that story, Mr. Buckingham describes his introduction to the young Mr. Hill (then approximately 10-years-old and known as Mike) and his mother Anna on the property of the famous Beaver Dam Ducking Club near Tunica, Mississippi. She was encamped there with Mike and her second husband Bob Friley, who was working the area as a fur trapper with the permission of the Club's landlord, Dr. Owen.
Mike's father, Marvin Hill, had been the Captain of a little transfer steamboat in Kentucky, but died, as Mr. Buckingham relates, as the result of a collision and fire after which he, "...went back a third time to try to save an old negro woman." Of Mike's stepfather, Mr. Buckingham stated, "He wasn't a bad man--just jealous of the boy and mean to him." Mike endured beatings and privation at his hands. As a result, Mike ran away in 1914 to live with an aunt in Kentucky. Prior to his departure, Mr. Buckingham asked, "What do you think you'd like to be, Mike?" And Mike, wallowing his boots around in the muddy water, grinned shyly and then looked me straight in the eye: "I guess I'd try t' join th' army."
Mike enlisted in 1916, served during World War I , and was decorated at Amiens for valor. Of that, Mr. Buckingham wrote, "I recalled in a flash that the official communique read to Marvin Hill--son of Anna's first husband, the big, blond Kentuckian who perished when their little steamboat burned and Captain Hill lingered too long, trying to save just one more life. I said to myself, like father like son, when the big moment came."
Contributor: Hunter TRW
Mike's father, Marvin Hill, had been the Captain of a little transfer steamboat in Kentucky, but died, as Mr. Buckingham relates, as the result of a collision and fire after which he, "...went back a third time to try to save an old negro woman." Of Mike's stepfather, Mr. Buckingham stated, "He wasn't a bad man--just jealous of the boy and mean to him." Mike endured beatings and privation at his hands. As a result, Mike ran away in 1914 to live with an aunt in Kentucky. Prior to his departure, Mr. Buckingham asked, "What do you think you'd like to be, Mike?" And Mike, wallowing his boots around in the muddy water, grinned shyly and then looked me straight in the eye: "I guess I'd try t' join th' army."
Mike enlisted in 1916, served during World War I , and was decorated at Amiens for valor. Of that, Mr. Buckingham wrote, "I recalled in a flash that the official communique read to Marvin Hill--son of Anna's first husband, the big, blond Kentuckian who perished when their little steamboat burned and Captain Hill lingered too long, trying to save just one more life. I said to myself, like father like son, when the big moment came."
Contributor: Hunter TRW
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
