Marine Pfc. Tarryl B. Hill

Died February 7, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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19, of Shelby Township, Mich.; assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Mount Clemens, Mich.; died Feb. 7 while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq.

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Detroit-area Marine killed in Iraq wanted to be chemical engineer

By Kristin Longley

The Associated Press

DETROIT — A 19-year-old Marine from Macomb County who joined the military to become a chemical engineer has died in Iraq, relatives said Friday, Feb. 9.

Tarryl Hill was killed Feb. 7 when his vehicle rode over an improvised explosive device, said his aunt, Felicia Hill.

The Pentagon had not officially announced the Marine’s death as of Friday evening. Hill said military officials notified the family about 10 p.m. Feb. 7 that Tarryl Hill died instantly.

“He was one of the best of us,” Felicia Hill said, through tears. “It’s been really hard on all of us.”

Tarryl Hill, a 2005 graduate of Southfield-Lathrup High School in Lathrup Village, was raised by his grandparents in Shelby Township.

He joined the Marines to pay for college, where he wanted to study engineering, his aunt said. After entering the military as a cook in April 2006, he started to develop an interest in culinary arts.

“He was interested in a lot of things. He was smart,” Felicia Hill said. “He never expected to be out on the front lines, and he liked to do everything he could.”

His aunt said Tarryl Hill joined the military with his cousin so neither would be alone. He was very athletic, and liked to play basketball and football, she said.

“He was very proud to be a Marine,” she said. “We were proud.”

Tarryl Hill’s uncle, George Hill, said his nephew had contacted his grandparents about a week ago, telling them he had written them a letter. “And he said he had something in that letter that he wanted them to see. But the letter still hasn’t made it here. The body is going to make it back here before that letter. And that’s going to be a difficult letter to read.”

Tarryl Hill’s other survivors include his grandparents, mother, two younger sisters and two younger brothers.

Services were planned for Feb. 16 at a Detroit church, Felicia Hill said.

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Shelby Twp. Marine dies in Iraq blast

By Dan Cortez

Detroit Free Press

At his grandson’s graduation from boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., last year, George Hill found a shirt that declared him as the grandfather of a Marine.

Pfc. Tarryl Hill quickly came over with a shirt that better described their relationship: “George Hill is the father of a Marine.”

“We raised him from the age of 4 months,” George Hill, 59, said Saturday evening. “I raised him as a son. He never called me grandfather. He always addressed me as Father.”

Hill, 19, of Shelby Township was killed Wednesday in Fallujah, Iraq, when his vehicle hit a bomb. He was a member of the 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, a Selfridge-based reserve unit profiled by the Free Press as Michigan’s Band of Brothers.

A 2005 graduate of Southfield-Lathrup High School in Lathrup Village, Hill and his cousin Steven Hill joined the Marines last year without telling their grandfather.

The cousins were never separated until Tarryl Hill went to Iraq in December; Steven Hill stayed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base.

“They looked at each other as brothers,” George Hill said.

Family members said they will remember Hill as a kind soul who was willing to help with any chore.

“When it would snow, he would shovel,” said Kim Hill, 30, his aunt. “He didn’t ask for money. Just a good-hearted kid.”

Hill was born in Detroit but lived with his grandparents in Lathrup Village until they moved to Shelby Township two years ago. He was athletic, liked sports and had an interest in taking apart cameras and radios and then trying to figure out how to put them back together.

George Hill said he planned to study chemical engineering at Lawrence Technological University. After entering the military as a cook in April 2006, he also started to develop an interest in culinary arts.

Besides his grandfather, Hill’s survivors include his grandmother, Sue Hill; his mother; two sisters, and two brothers.

Marine Maj. Shannon Wiley said Saturday that Hill’s remains are expected to return to the United States this week.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.