BRIGADIER GENERAL
WALTER N. HILL, USMC (DECEASED)
 

Medal of Honor Citation 

Original General Order 

Brigadier General Walter Newell Hill, who earned the Nation’s highest decoration in the 1914 capture of Vera Cruz, Mexico, died 29 June 1955, at St. Albans Naval Hospital, New York. 

Commissioned a second lieutenant in 1904, he served continuously on active duty until 1938, and came out of retirement to serve during World War II. He retired again in 1945 after a Marine Corps career that spanned four decades. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery on 21-22 April 1914, when a Marine and Naval landing force occupied Vera Cruz during a crisis between the United States and Mexico. 

Walter N. Hill was born 29 September 1881, in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He was a student at Harvard University prior to his appointment a Marine second lieutenant on 1 February 1904. By the time he earned the Medal of Honor, he had served at sea, at various posts and stations in the United States, in Cuba, China and the Philippines. Afterward, he went on to serve in France during World War I, in the Virgin Islands, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. He was awarded the Haitian Medaille Militaire for service in that country during operations against rebel bandits. 

He was promoted to first lieutenant in July 1906; captain in June 1913; major in October 1917; lieutenant colonel in March 1926; and colonel in February 1934. Upon retirement in September 1938, he was advanced to brigadier general on the retired list for having been specially commended in combat. 

Returning to active duty in January 1942, he served at Marine Corps Headquarters, Washington, D.C., until the end of World War II.

Vera Cruz 1914 Medal of Honor