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. When asked why he was a Civitan, Hilton replied: 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. That cemetery also maintains the graves of
Civil War Confederate Army Generals
John Doby Kennedy and
Joseph B. Kershaw, as well as Civil War hero
Richard Rowland Kirkland. ==Medal of Honor citation==