b. 08/10/1896 Westville, South Carolina. d. 13/08/1933 Lake Murray, South Carolina.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 11/10/1918 Brancourt, France.
Richmond H Hilton MOH
Hilton was born in Westville, South Carolina, and joined the army in Westville, assigned to Company M, 118th Infantry, 30th Division. On October 11, 1918, while fighting near Brancourt, France, Hilton’s unit was held up by intense machine gun and small arms fire. Sgt. Hilton recognized that the machine gun fire was coming from a shell crater just ahead of them. Accompanied by several other soldiers, but moving out well ahead of them, Sgt. Hilton engaged the machine gun, using his rifle until his ammunition ran out, then using his pistol, killing six German soldiers, and capturing ten others. In the course of this action he was wounded by an exploding shell, which resulted in the loss of an arm.
After his discharge from the army, he returned home to Kershaw County a hero. He joined the Civitan Club of Columbia, of which he was a proud member. After his death in 1933, he was buried in “Old Quaker Cemetery” in Camden, South Carolina, which is also the cemetery in which World War I Medal of Honor recipient John Canty Villepigue is buried. He and Villepigue were both assigned to Company M, 118th Infantry, 30th Division, with Villepigue being awarded his Medal of Honor for actions taking place a few days later, on October 15, 1918, which resulted in injuries from which he later died.
MOH CITATION:
While Sgt. Hilton’s company was advancing through the village of Brancourt it was held up by intense enfilading fire from a machine gun. Discovering that this fire came from a machine-gun nest among shell holes at the edge of the town, Sgt. Hilton, accompanied by a few other soldiers, but well in advance of them, pressed on toward this position, firing with his rifle until his ammunition was exhausted, and then with his pistol, killing six of the enemy and capturing 10. In the course of this daring exploit he received a wound from a bursting shell, which resulted in the loss of his arm.
BURIAL LOCATION: QUAKER CEMETERY, CAMDEN, SOUTH CAROLINA.
SECTION 14.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: FAMILY.
