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William Evens Hall 'Bill' |
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Graduate, U.S. Military Academy, Class of 1929 Engagements: • World War II (1941 - 1945)• Korean War (1950 - 1953) |
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Biography: | ||||
William Evens Hall William Evens Hall was born on 22 October 1907 in McAlester, OK. Hall attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY. He was active in athletics at the Academy; serving as captain of the track team in his first class year. He also received Honorable Mention All-American as a football center. Hall graduated with the Class of 1929 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Field Artillery. The following year, Hall became Chief of the Armed Forces Division, Office of the U.S. Military Government of Germany. At some point during this assignment, he also served as Chief of the U.S. Air Survey Mission to Turkey that conducted a modernization study of the Turkish Air Force. His next assignment was as Director of Intelligence, Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the European Command, Berlin, Germany, during the Berlin Airlift. In 1949, He was made Director of Intelligence, 1130th Special Activities Group, Bolling AFB, with duty station at Heidelberg, Germany. Reassigned in November 1949, Hall was named Deputy Director of Legislation and Liaison, Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, Washington; he became Director in May 1951. On 1 July 1957, Lieutenant General William E. Hall assumed command of the nationwide Continental Air Command, an organization of more than 15,000 military personnel and over 8,000 civilian employees. ConAC was responsible for training the 15-Wing Air Force Reserve; supervising the training of, and inspecting, the 24-Wing Air National Guard; and for training more than 100,000 individual Ready Reservists. In addition to commanding ConAC, Hall also had duty as Senior Member and Air Force Representative to the United Nations Military Staff Committee, New York, NY. Hall retired from active duty on 1 October 1961. Medals, Awards and Badges Air Force Distinguished Service Medal Honors • In 1952 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Portland, Portland, OR. • In 1961, he was admitted to the Reserve Officer's Association Minuteman Hall of Fame, an honor most frequently awarded to officers of 4-star rank and whose awardees make up a virtual Who's Who in the military. Personal Hall married Helena Callaway and they had four children together: William S.; Frank; Helena; and William E. Jr. Two of their sons also served in the U.S. Air Force; William Spencer Hall (MHOH ID 212742) retired as a Captain; and William Evens Hall, Jr. retired as a Colonel. In addition, Hall's brother, Linscott A. 'Scott' Hall (MHOH ID 212748), retired as a Brigadier General in the U.S. Air Force. In 1952 Hall, then a Major General, married Marguerite ("Maggie") Higgins. They met while he was serving in Germany, and she was the New York Herald Tribune's Berlin Bureau Chief. Maggie was already famous when they married; she was the first female journalist to win the Pulitzer Prize, which she won in 1951 for her book, entitled "War in Korea." She was in Seoul during the invasion and landed at Inchon with the U.S. Marines. Maggie wrote extensively about Vietnam and visited the country several times. While touring there in 1965, she contracted Leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease spread by the bite of infected sand flies, which forced her to return to the family home in Washington, DC. Sadly, Maggie died on 3 January 1966 at the young age of 45. She is buried next to her husband in Arlington National Cemetery. Bill Hall was a boating and motorcycle enthusiast and he loved animals. At one time he had a kitten, two dogs (one a deaf Dalmatian), a canary, and two parakeets. Death and Burial Lieutenant General William Evens Hall died on 30 May 1984 in Washington, DC. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA, next to Maggie in Section 2, Site 4705-B. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=52534107 |
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Honoree ID: 3280 | Created by: MHOH |