Dean J. Hill was born on February 26, 1923, in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California. He was the son of Ruth Anne Frick Hill and Dean Hill, Sr. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on October 1, 1943, and was stationed north of London, England.

Piloting the P-51 Mustang #43-6896 on June 19, 1944, he took off from Station 356 airfield in Debden, England, n°4 of the Caboose Blue section, on a ramrod escort mission. After the mission was scrubbed, he was last seen entering 10/10 cloud cover and was believed to have spun out of a dense cloud in the Vire area. His airplane crashed in a small woods in Bois du Holux - Cne de Coulonces - 4 km NO of Vire early that morning.

1Lt Hill is now buried in the Brittany American Cemetery, Montjoie Saint Martin, France.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, www.americanairmuseum.com, 4thfightergroupassociation.org