Ralyn M. Hill

He crossed a bridge under heavy fire to reach a hurt airman.

Ralyn M. Hill was born at Lindenwood, Illinois, on 6 May 1899. He enlisted during the First World War and served with Company H, 129th Infantry Regiment, 33rd Division. After training in the United States, his division went to France and fought alongside Allied armies before entering the Meuse-Argonne campaign.

On 7 October 1918 near Donnevoux, Hill saw a French aircraft fall out of control on the enemy side of the Meuse River. Its pilot was injured. Hill voluntarily crossed a footbridge toward the crash, exposing himself to enemy machine guns and artillery.

He reached the wounded man, lifted him onto his back and started toward the American lines. The return journey extended for several hundred yards under continuing fire. Hill nevertheless carried the airman all the way to safety. His action rescued someone he had not known and whose crash had placed him beyond the protection of the Allied position.

General John Pershing presented Hill with the Medal of Honor at Ettelbruck, Luxembourg, on 22 April 1919. French authorities also recognized the rescue with the Médaille militaire and Croix de Guerre. He attained the rank of sergeant before returning to civilian life.

After the war Hill worked near Oregon, Illinois, and later served as a motorcycle policeman in the surrounding region. He eventually lived in Kansas. He died at Abilene on 25 March 1977 and was buried in Abilene Cemetery. The rescue remained the defining event recorded in his military citation and in the history of his Illinois regiment.