Bucks County Bridge Dedicated In Memory Of Council Rock Graduate Killed In Vietnam

CHURCHVILLE, PA — A Council Rock graduate who was killed while serving in Vietnam was remembered on Tuesday during a bridge dedication ceremony in Northampton Township.

The Pennsylvania Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and Bucks County leaders officially dedicated a county bridge on Elm Avenue in Churchville in honor of Chief Warrant Officer 2 Robert Oren Hill Jr., United States Army, who died in Vietnam in 1970 when the medical helicopter he was commanding crashed.

The bridge is the 17th county-owned bridge since 2022 to be dedicated in memory of a county soldier lost in the Vietnam War. The dedications are part of the county’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge Program, which will honor 136 Bucks County residents lost in the Vietnam War.

The county administers the program in partnership with Bucks County-based veterans’ advocate Ed Preston, who chairs the Pennsylvania Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (PAVVMF). To learn more about the program and the men it is meant to honor, visit BucksCounty.gov/MemorialBridges.

Robert Oren Hill Jr. was born on Feb. 10, 1948 to Robert Oren Hill Sr. and Betty Jane Poertner. He was one of seven children. His father, Robert O. Hill Sr., served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. His brother, Bruce, was an Army Green Beret who had also served in Vietnam while Robert was serving there.

Hill graduated from Council Rock High School in 1965, where he had served as class president during his senior year. His yearbook describes him as "a friendly, good-looking blonde, with an eye on college." He enjoyed aviation, girls, and cheering. He was fond of saying, "How you be?"

After graduation, he worked for Bell Telephone before enlisting in the Army in July 1967. After graduating from helicopter flight school, he spent a year in Germany before returning to the States for medical training.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Hill was sent to Vietnam and assigned to the 237th Medical Detachment, 67th Medical Group, U.S. Army Medical Command in December 1969.

"Bob was my co-pilot on one of the worst days we flew there,” said one of his co-pilots. “On that day, Bob and our crew evacuated about 100 wounded men from LZ Holkum while under heavy mortar attack. Each flight out, we took only enough fuel to fly out and back without any reserve because we frequently had over 15 patients on board."

Hill was due back in the States from Vietnam in Dec. 1970. He planned on attending college, which he had postponed to enlist.

On Sept. 27, 1970, Hill was the aircraft commander of a Huey UH-1H helicopter. Hill and his crew were flying a search and rescue mission in bad weather, late at night, over the Quang Tri Province, when the helicopter crashed.

Their sister ship had been reported missing while transporting a burned Vietnamese child to a hospital. Hill's aircraft lost radio contact with the base, and a search and rescue helicopter was sent out to look for them. The wreckage of Hill's aircraft was found the following morning. The crash was probably due to fuel exhaustion.

For his service in Vietnam, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 16 oak leaf clusters, and the Bronze Star. Hill is buried in the North and Southampton Churchyard, Churchville.