Brookline War Memorial
Gerald G. Hilliard

Cpl. Gerald G. Hilliard
United States Army (1946-1951)

Gerald G. Hilliard

United States Army (1775-present)

Gerald Glover Hilliard was born on May 17, 1927, to parents Margaret G. and Clare P. Hilliard of 2012 Edgebrook Avenue. Gerald had two brothers, Eugene and Charles, and two sisters, Grace and Patricia. The Hilliards were members of Resurrection Church and Gerald attended Resurrection Elementary School.

After grade school, Gerald attended Washington Vocational School in Lawrenceville. While in school, his parents both passed away. Gerald's father Clare died on June 1, 1943, and his mother Margaret less than a year later, on March 14, 1944.

He moved in with his sister Grace Bancuk in Lawrenceville and finished his education. Gerald was employed as a Western Union cashier at the Pennsylvania Railroad Station in Pittsburgh when, on January 8, 1946, he enlisted in the Army with the intention of making it a career.

After boot camp, he was assigned to Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. When the Korean War began in June 1950, the Regiment, known as the Cottonbalers, was stationed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.

The 7th Regiment set sail for the Far East from San Francisco, California, on August 20. They landed in Japan on September 16, one day after the start of the Battle of Inchon. The 3rd Infantry Division spent two months near the port of Moji, Japan, in preparation for their deployment to the Korean Peninsula.

                 

As the tide of the war turned in favor of the United Nations, the 3rd Infantry Division, known as the "Rock Of The Marne" for it's exploits during World War I, was assigned to the Far Eastern Command Reserve, earmarked for post-conflict occupation duty in North Korea. Soon, their intended mission was to be dramatically altered.

When the Peoples Republic of China entered the war in November 1950, the 7th Regiment was quickly dispatched to Wonsan on North Korea's eastern coast. They landed on November 21, and joined with the Division's 15th and 65th Infantry Regiments. The men were transported to positions northwest of Hungnam.

At Majon-dong, Third Division established a defensive position and began fighting. They helped cover the withdrawal of the Army's X Corps rearguard elements (1st Marine Division and 7th Infantry Division) during the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. Elements of the 7th Infantry Regiment formed the nucleus of Task Force Dog, a relief force that advanced forward to create a corridor for the approaching columns.

Once the withdrawing units had reached the safety of the Port of Hungnam, the Regiment helped form a collapsing perimeter around the area. Skirmishes broke out between the Cottonbalers and the pursuing PVA 27th Corps. With strong naval fire support provided by an offshore task force, the badly mauled enemy units never breached the Hungnam perimeter.

Units head to the Hungnam harbor
for evacuation - December 1950.    The Port of Hungnam destroyed on December 24, 1950.
The Hungnam harbor during the evacuation (left) and the port being destroyed on December 24, 1950.

In what U.S. historians called the "greatest evacuation movement by sea in U.S. military history", a 193-ship armada assembled at the port and evacuated not only the U.N. troops, but also their heavy equipment and roughly a third of the Korean refugees. Cpl. Hilliard's regiment was the last unit to disembark before the harbor facilities were destroyed. The 7th Infantry Regiment left Hungnam by sea on December 24, 1950.

From January 25 through February 9, after the fall of Seoul, the Third Division was engaged in Operation Thunderbolt, the initial phase of the Eighth Army counteroffensive to recapture the South Korean capital.

In March, the Division saw action during Operation Ripper, or the Fourth Battle of Seoul. On the evening of March 15, elements of the Third Division entered the city. Threatened with encirclement, the enemy abandoned their positions and retreated north into the mountains.

A limited Eighth Army offensive aimed at seizing the Chorwon-Kumhwa-Pyonggang area, an important enemy communication and supply zone called "The Iron Triangle," began in April. The Division crossed the Sinchon River and attacked north towards Chorwon and Pyonggang along the road running from Seoul.

3rd Division Soldiers in Korea    3rd Division Soldiers in Korea.
3rd Infantry Division soldiers near the Imjin River on April 17, 1951.

With forward elements of the Third Division only ten miles from their Chorwon objective, the enemy counterattacked in force, not just at Chorwon but along the entire United Nations front line. This was the start of the Chinese Spring Offensive. The breadth and severity of the attack caught the Eighth Army by surprise.

As usual, the Chinese waited until after dark before launching their big attack. By morning on the following day, April 23, they had penetrated United Nations' lines at widely scattered points and, under orders, units of Eighth Army began falling back. The 3rd Division gave up ten miles of territory, returned to the south bank of the Imjin River and took up previously prepared positions on an established Eighth Army fortified defense line.

The 7th Regiment was placed on a ridge overlooking the important Seoul-Chorwon-Wonsan road and the single-track railroad line that parallels it. The position was especially important since it guarded the crossing site of the Imjin River. This was the same road and river crossing the North Koreans had used when they first invaded South Korean territory during the summer of 1950.

These defensive positions were not more than a thousand yards south of the 38th parallel. The 1st Battalion occupied the east end of the regimental sector. Cpl. Hilliard and Bravo Company manned the bunkers and foxholes on Hill 283 and those along the ridgeline that slanted down toward the road.

3rd Division Soldiers in Korea    3rd Division soldiers in Korea
A ridge line machine gun position (left) and wounded 3rd Division soldiers awaiting evacuation.

Able Company's sector extended from Bravo Company, southwest across a long, brush-covered saddle, then west along the top of Hill 287, a company front of 1,400 yards. Beyond Able Company there was a gap of about 500 yards between its left flank position and the right flank of the 3rd Battalion, which occupied another ridgeline to the north and west.

On the morning of April 24th the Chinese struck the regimental line. Third Battalion faced the brunt of the enemy attack and was engaged throughout the day and the following evening. Another enemy force struck Bravo Company's end of the line and started a heavy fire fight that lasted from midnight until first light on April 25.

On the morning of April 25, the enemy had secured some high ground on the flank of 3rd Battalion that threatened the entire regimental ridgeline position. Orders came for a withdrawal across the Imjin River. Able Company was ordered to cover the withdrawal.

The battle weary men of 3rd Battalion on the left flank moved slowly down the narrow path off the hill, stopping several times to rest. Their casual pace upset the entire time table for the evacuation. A much needed napalm strike by four planes silenced the enemy threat on the left flank. However, by the time Baker Company began its move off the 1st Battalion's right flank the Chinese had maneuvered to that area and began exerting pressure there.

Chinese Human Wave Attacks    Chinese Human Wave Attacks
Chinese human wave attacks, accompanied by a cacophony of blowing horns, were common during the Korean War

While Corporal Hilliard and Bravo Company withdrew down the path to the river, the Chinese occupied their abandoned positions and attacked the right flank of Able Company in strength. The situation turned desperate quickly and one platoon from Bravo Company was rushed back up the hill to help hold back the enemy onslaught.

As the desperate struggle raged on and the slow evacuation continued, another problem arose. Although they had been stripping the passing soldiers of their ammunition, it was being expended quicker than it could be replaced. It began to look as though the ridgeline, and possibly the river crossing, would be overrun by thousands of screaming Chinese attackers.

Only a last minute barrage of heavy, accurate and continuous artillery, called in by Able Company's forward observer, secured the necessary time to effectively withdraw the remaining men of Able and Bravo Company to the safety of the Imjin River crossing. That forward observer was none other than Brookline's Corporal James W. Gormley, who was awarded a Silver Star for his actions on that day.

It will never be known if Gerald G. Hilliard of Bravo Company knew that the Able Company forward observer, whose actions saved not only his life but possibly the bulk of the 7th Regiment, was his neighbor James W. Gormley, who grew up only a few blocks away in East Brookline. Gormley was killed in action a month after the battle for Hill 283.

Forward Observer team of the
39th Field Artillery Battalion
Members of the 7th Infantry Regiment on a hilltop position on May 24, 1951.

During the following month of heavy fighting, the weight of the Chinese Spring Offensive continued to gradually push back the United Nations front lines. By the middle of May, the 7th Infantry Regiment had moved to positions seventy-five miles to the east, defending hilltop strongholds near the village of Habae Jae.

May 24, 1951 marked the start of the United Nations Summer/Fall Counteroffensive. While units in other sectors of the front were beginning their move against enemy positions, the 7th Regiment near Habae Jae was still in a defensive posture and under determined pressure from a combined force of Chinese and North Koreans.

Soon the enemy pressure slackened and the 7th Regiment began once again to advance north towards Chorwon and the Iron Triangle. It was to be the final real offensive of the campaign before the war settled into a static struggle for strategic ridges. It was the offensive that pushed the North Koreans and Chinese into accepting peace negotiations.

It was during this advance, on June 7, 1951, somewhere near the Chorwon area, that Brookline's twenty-four year old Corporal Gerald G. Hilliard was killed in action.

News of his death from the Defense Department reached his sister Grace in Lawrenceville on the same day as his final letter home. In that letter, Gerald said, "I do not expect that I should be coming home soon." He enclosed a photograph that was taken in May while he was on a rest leave in Japan.

At the time of his death, Gerald's brother Eugene was an Air Force Staff Sergeant at Eglin Field in Florida and Charles was attending State Teachers College in California, Pennsylvania.

Gerald G. Hilliard

The Pittsburgh Press announced his death on July 8, 1951. Gerald's body was returned to the United States in November 1951. He was laid out at Beinhauer Mortuary for three days beginning on November 23 and a Requiem Mass was held at Resurrection Church on Monday, November 26. Gerald G. Hilliard was the last of four soldiers from the community of Brookline to die during the Korean War.

After Corporal Hilliard's death, although the warring parties began peace negotiations, first at Kaesong, on the border between North and South Korea, and then at the neighboring village of Panmunjom, the conflict dragged on for another two years before the Armistice was signed on July 27, 1953. Many more lives were lost during those two long years.

* Written by Clint Burton: May 13, 2018 *




The Brookline War Memorial

The Brookline Veteran's Memorial.

Listed below are many of the sons of Brookline who gave their
lives to preserve freedom and contain aggression during
World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died.
Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.”
General George S. Patton
 

United States Army (1775-present)  United States Army Air Services (1917-1947)  United States Navy (1775-present)  United States Marine Corps (1775-present)
United States Coast Guards (1790-present)  United States Air Force (1947-present)  United States Merchant Marine (1775-present)

World War I (1917-1919)

Percy Digby

Digby, David P.
Mayville Avenue
Army

Details

Raymond P. Cronin

Cronin, Raymond P.
Berkshire Avenue
USMC

Details

Charles Luppe

Luppe, Charles
Ferncliffe Avenue
Army

Details

WW1 Memorial - Washington D.C.
The World War I Memorial - Washington D.C.

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World War II (1941-1945)


Alm, William H.
Pioneer Avenue
Army

Details


Arensberg, Roy T.
Fernhill Avenue
Army

Details


Bracey, Bruce H.
Plainview Avenue
Army

Details


Brickley, Edward G.
Woodward Avenue
Army

Details


Capogreca, James J.
Merrick Avenue
Navy

Details


Copeland, Clarence R.
Creedmoor Avenue
Navy

Details


Cullison, Thomas J.
Birtley Avenue
Army

Details


Dempsey, Howard F.
Berkshire Avenue
Army

Details


Dempsey, Walter F.
Milan Avenue
Navy

Details


Diegelman, Edward R. Jr
Norwich Avenue
Army

Details


Dornetto, Frank P.
Jacob Street
Navy

Details


Doyle, John F Jr.
Eben Street
Navy

Details


Fagan, Gerald B.
Woodbourne Avenue
Army

Details


Falk, Harold E.
Pioneer Avenue
Army

Details


Fehring, Robert M.
Fernhill Avenue
Army

Details


Gmuca, Joseph J.
Brookline Boulevard
Army

Details


Heil, Robert F.
Bayridge Avenue
Army

Details


Hynes, Richard E.
Waddington Avenue
Army

Details


Kestler, Paul C.
Creedmoor Avenue
Navy

Details


Ketters, Robert C.
Berkshire Avenue
Army

Details


Mahoney, Michael J.
Oakridge Street
Army

Details


Majestic, Arthur B.
Starkamp Avenue
Army

Details


Mayberry, Alexander G.
Breining Street
Army

Details


Mazza, John
Alwyn Street
Army

Details


McCann, Robert F.
Edgebrook Avenue
Navy

Details


McFarland, Hugh R.
McNeilly Road
Army

Details


Meisner, Walter F.
Berwin Avenue
Merchant Marine

Details


Miller, William J.
Norwich Avenue
Army

Details


Napier, Edward J.
Brookline Boulevard
Army

Details


Nicholson, John D.
Woodbourne Avenue
Army

Details


O'Day, John R.
Creedmoor Avenue
Navy

Details


Orient, Andrew D.
Fordham Avenue
Army

Details


Pisiecki, Raymond A.
Wolford Avenue
Army

Details


Reeves, Alfred M.
Brookline Boulevard
Army

Details


Reitmeyer, John P.
Bellaire Avenue
Navy

Details


Rhing, Vern M.
Norwich Avenue
Army

Details


Ruane, Roy J.
Berkshire Avenue
USMC

Details


Shannon, Harry C.
Midland Street
Army

Details


Shannon, Jack E.
Midland Street
USMC

Details


Simpson, James D.
Woodbourne Avenue
Army

Details


Spack, Harry
Linial Avenue
Army

Details


Tobin, Paul M.
Woodbourne Avenue
Army

Details


Vierling, Howard F.
Fordham Avenue
Army

Details


Wagner, Ralph G.
Shawhan Avenue
Army

Details


Wentz, Walter L. Jr
Woodbourne Avenue
Army

Details


Zeiler, Harold V.
West Liberty Avenue
Army

Details


WW2 Memorial - Washington D.C.
The World War II Memorial - Washington D.C.

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Korean War (1950-1953)

Patrick Gallagher

Gallagher, Patrick J.
Bodkin Street
Army

Details

James Gormley

Gormley, James W.
Brookline Boulevard
Army

Details

Gerald Hilliard

Hilliard, Gerald G.
Edgebrook Avenue
Army

Details

James McKenna

McKenna, James E.
Bellaire Place
Army

Details

Korean War Memorial - Washington D.C.
Korean War Memorial - Washington D.C.

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Vietnam War (1965-1973)

James Robert Bodish

Bodish, James R.
Plainview Avenue
Army

Virtual Wall
Additional Details

James Gilbert Collins

Collins, James G.
Dunster Street
Army

Virtual Wall
Additional Details

James Charles Wonn

Wonn, James C.
Mayville Avenue
Navy

Virtual Wall
Additional Details

Vietnam War Memorial - Washington D.C.
Vietnam War Memorial - Washington D.C.




The Brookline Monument - The Cannon

Brookline Veteran's Park - April 26, 2014.

<Brookline War Memorial> <> <Brookline History>