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| Lt.(jg) Sidney Hix was a PT boat skipper in the Solomon Islands. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/125349329 |
Sidney Dayton Hix never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Sidney was born on October 27, 1919 in Tennessee. His parents Leslie and Nellie were also born in Tennessee. His father worked as a manager for an electric light company. Sidney had one older sister. He graduated from Gallatin High School and Vanderbilt University where he was editor of the student newspaper, member of the Student Christian Association, and played baseball and basketball.
Sidney enlisted in the US Navy Reserve in September 1941 and eventually served as a Lieutenant (junior grade) in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 5. In the spring of 1943, the twelve PT boats of MTB Squadron 5 were deployed to the South Pacific, where they were based at Rendova in the British Solomon Islands. In the summer of 1943, one of their missions was night patrol of the Blackett Strait, which bordered the southern coast of Kolombangara, a large Japanese-held island to the west of New Georgia. The PT boats’ mission was to keep Japanese ships and barges from resupplying the troops on Kolombangara. Lt. (j.g.) Hix was skipper of PT-108, an 80’ patrol torpedo boat with a crew of 13, armed with four 21" torpedoes, two twin .50 cal. machine guns, and 20mm, 37mm, and 40mm gun mounts. He named his boat L’il Duck, his nickname for his girlfriend back home in the States.
On the morning of 22 August 1943, the PT boats of Squadron 5 were assigned a mission to attack the Japanese barge installations on Kolombangara. PT-108 was tasked to transport four Army demolition specialists to an island cove, where they would go ashore to destroy enemy fuel dumps and machine shops. Prior reconnaissance indicated that PT-108 would likely not encounter enemy opposition, however as Lt. Hix slipped his boat to within 100 yards of the shore, it was suddenly caught in a crossfire of enemy machine guns in the treeline. The crew attempted to return fire against the unseen enemy, but the mission had to be aborted. Lt. (j.g.) Hix and two others were killed by enemy fire and six were wounded. When PT-108 returned to base, mechanics counted 268 bullet holes in the L’il Duck.
Sidney Dayton Hix is buried in Gallatin City Cemetery in Gallatin, Tennessee.
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This profile was written by Bob Fuerst. "I’m a NASA engineer, B-17 Flying Fortress enthusiast, and amateur genealogist so this kind of research is an ideal outlet for me. But more than anything, it’s a way to express my sincere appreciation for The Greatest Generation and the sacrifices that they made, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. They should never be forgotten and I’m grateful to Don for allowing me to play a small part in honoring them."
Last year on this date I profiled Bataan Death March survivor Glen Schlingerman. You can read about Glen here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
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