Tom Hill

Thomas A. Hill of Oakmont is a man who knows what he wants. Graduating from the former Oakmont High School in 1942, he knew he wanted to go college. He also knew he wanted he wanted to serve his country by flying the best fighter available. He did both. He became a student at Carnegie Tech and he enlisted in the United States Army Air Force at the same time. He wanted to be a pilot and the Air Corps was interested in college students. They were needed as officers in the rapidly expanding Army Air Force and would become pilots, navigators, or bombardiers. Tom was permitted to continue the first year of college while being a Cadet. His area of study was metallurgy, but he also played the trumpet in the college’s Kiltie Band (founded in 1908). He was the only freshman member of the Band. Needless to say, at 19 years of age he was already beginning the adventure of his life.

Tom was activated in Army Air Corps when he completed his freshman year at Carnegie Tech. He left Pittsburgh with his best friend in May of 1943 and was sent by train to Miami Beach, Florida where he received basic training. The Air Corps took over approximately 300 hotels to house the recruits. Training was carried out in the streets, golf courses, beaches, and theaters and included strenuous physical activity. “They worked us over well to get us in physical shape,” Tom said.

Tom was then sent to the University of Vermont for further academic studies related to being an officer. These studies gave him transferable credits for future college studies. After the short term studies, Nashville, Tennessee became the next stop. It was time to select his career in the Army Air Force. Without hesitation, he signed up to be a P-51 fighter pilot. Tom said he wanted the best and the new P-51 was an outstanding fighter plane that had just been introduced in 1942. But, to Tom’s chagrin, “My request was not met with a yes”. What he discovered was that in spite of being asked what they wanted to do, they never replied. “It was a struggle for it . . .”, he said.

Tom hadn’t even got through training when he encountered his first near death experience. “They moved us around,” he said and “we began training in the AT-6 [Advanced Trainer]”. Tom said they also trained in the P-40’s. One day while he was flying his fighter aircraft the engine caught fire. “I was scared to death,” he said, “I could not put it out and had to fly in [to the air field],” he continued. “I made the conclusion I could make it to the field,” he declared. He got to the airport, put his speed up, put it up on its wing (an upward tilting maneuver to create draft) “and sliced it” approaching the runway. Firefighting apparatus moved quickly into the field to dose the fire and retrieve Tom out of the aircraft.

Sheldon Hotel barracks

Tom wanted to know how the fire started. Actually, he really wanted to know if it was his fault. The next morning he went to the hangers to see what happened. He was told he did a great job getting the plane back on the ground and it wasn’t his fault. He never learned how the fire started.

Tom’s one desire to be a fighter pilot and fly the P-51 finally happened. He was assigned a brand new P-51 when he transferred to Lincoln, Nebraska. From there he flew to Page Field in Ft. Myers, Florida to prepare for the invasion of Japan. Although eager to join the Japanese fight overseas, it was not to be. He was assigned to be a Flight Instructor. In another way, it was a complement as only the best pilots were picked to train others. It didn’t lessen the disappointment, but Tom went on to train dozens of other pilots who did go to fight in the Pacific. Japan surrendered and Tom never got to go overseas to fight.

Tom was separated from the service in Columbus, Ohio and remained in the reserves for another year. He returned home to attend Penn State, graduating with a pre-law degree, and Duquesne where he received his law degree. He then joined Rockwell International and was called on by the President to head their Acquisition & Merger efforts. While at Rockwell he furthered his education by doing graduate work at Dartmouth. He worked closely with the President spending 20 years at Rockwell before retiring.

Tom fell in love with flying and continued to do so throughout his life. As many know, fighter pilots tend to be a special breed. That showed on some occasions. One such occasion occurred when Tom had a Piper Cub outfitted with pontoons to be a seaplane. He was training a young man, somewhat heavy, and on take off from the Allegheny River at Oakmont couldn’t clear the Houlton Bridge, so instead he flew underneath it! It seems the young man didn’t have any further interest in flying. That’s Tom’s official story of the event!

P-51A Fighter Plane in WWI

Another occasion was when he and friend decided to fly to Canada. Nearing Chautauqua Lake, New York, it began to rain with lightening. It forced them to land on the lake, but to dock the plane they needed help. In the middle of the storm they were circling the lake attempting to get someone’s attention to assist them in docking. Finally, a boat came out with rope to help them dock. After leaving Chautauqua Lake they headed toward Canada and encountered a rough motor. Once again they had to force land and this time it was on the Niagara River. Tom said, “God saved them”. There was a Seaplane base located right where they landed.

The funniest story is the fact that Tom’s cousin bought this Piper Cub from a military auction. They wanted to convert the landing gear to pontoons for water landing and docking. They brought the Piper Cub back to a small airport nearby. The problem was how to get pontoons on it and take off! They came up with the brilliant idea of having the runway flooded with water by the fire department and a group of friends to push them off. Everyone agreed (try that today!) and they couldn’t get liftoff. They tried again, and only got a few feet off. This occurred a number of times and Tom wouldn’t give up. The fire department agreed to stay and continue to try as the friends did. There was a down slope off the end of the runway, but getting over the trees was the problem. The plan finally worked and they successfully got airborne and they now had a worthy seaplane! Tom started giving flying lessons.

In the past few years Tom helped form a group of World War II Veterans that were pilots, navigators, and bombardiers. Called the “Flight Crew” they meet for monthly luncheons. They also participate in Memorial Day celebrations. Tom is a Son of The American Revolution with a rich heritage. Two of his relatives served in the American Revolution. John Barclay rose from a private to an Adjutant. Jason Ogden was the other relative. Thomas Rob McMillan served in the Civil War for the North. And, Jonathan McMillan served in World War I. As you can see, Tom followed in World War II continuing the heritage of his family.

Tom is married to Virginia (a Daughter of the American Revolution) and they have four adult children. He was born in Verona and his family moved when he was a child to Oakmont where he has lived since.