People have wondered if there is a need for two websites about the 96th Infantry. There isn’t really a need.
It was very important to my dad, "Bill" Hill, that the Deadeyes “be remembered."
After Bill and I attended the 96th Infantry Division Association Reunion in Denver, we became excited about ways to pass on the contribution the 96th Infantry had made for our country. We decided to make a website with that as its goal.
RemembertheDeadeyes.com (RTD)went on line on Veteran's Day, 2009 with the simple mission to keep the memory of these incredible soldiers of the 96th Infantry alive.
This website is set up for the future generations to really understand who the Deadeyes were. Descendants can read stories in their own words, and tributes their loved ones have written for them. Family and friends can visit their individual webpages which will be there as long as there is an internet. They can hear their voices in oral histories, see photos, watch videos - all to withness the Deadeyes as actual people with feelings similar to theirs.
RTD is presented to the audience as a learning place, so visitors can “get to know” these incredible patriots within the eyeglass of the Army during WW2 - and the background behind this era.
RTD also has a teaching aspect to it. There is a glossary to explain all those terms I never knew. (I find those in the stories I read.) The musette bag is filled with lots of intriguing information that anyone not familiar with the Army, or the WWII era would know. It includes things like Marjorie Main, rationing, Bob Hope, Army organization, Kilroy, Deadeye illustrators, music, the difference between emblems and insignias, uniforms, etc - topics that most people don’t know.
I knew basically nothing about the Army, or WWII until we started RTD. Most people have never heard of Leyte or even Okinawa.
It has been a fascinating journey and I love bringing others along on the adventure. Dad lived and breathed Deadeyes, and I promised Dad we would keep it going and current after he was gone.
It’s my mission now. Two of his grandson's have promised to take over when I am ready to pass it on.
RemembertheDeadeyes.com will be here for a very long time.