By Christine Baldwin

Robert Hill was born in Detroit, Michigan. His mother was Canadian and his Dad American. He joined the Air Force in 1968 and took his Medic training at Hill AFB in Utah. Robert used this training in South East Asia; in Ubon, Thailand; and Vietnam until 1974. His main job was suturing. Robert did miles and miles of sutures, including hundreds of soldiers and even sewed some little girls’ faces back together. Even though he was Air Force, because of the nature of his work he ended up serving in every branch of the service (except the Coast Guard).

After Vietnam, Robert went to Germany and later Italy. While there the main worry was about Russia. One day, he went outside, and while doing exercises, Robert heard an announcement from the tower. The MIGs were already in their neutral zone. The tower announced “10, 10, 10” which meant that it’s red hot! Then two of our F15s came out of the bomb-proof bunkers. Robert had never seen planes go that fast. You couldn’t see them, but you could hear them. Then, you couldn’t even hear them. Needless to say the MIG’s turned tail and left in a hurry.

Robert had flown in many different aircraft, including the C-130, when they were transporting our deceased military home to the United States. He had also been on the Concorde in the early 70’s. It seemed like one minute he was in Italy and the next he was in New York.

Robert retired in 1988. Though he had always given money, he never knew where or what the Armed Forces Retirement Home was. Robert was very happy to “discover” the home and has been here for fifteen years. Since he is a people person, Robert loves talking with people and enjoys staying active.