David grew up in the Hanson-Whitman area of Massachusetts, where he attended Whitman High School, graduating with the class of 1960. While he was a student at Whitman, David was active in athletics, playing on his school's football and track teams. After high school, David went to Cornell University, where he was a member of the University's track team. David graduated from Cornell in 1964 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U. S. Army. Upon completion of his officer basic course, David attended the Army's Officer's Rotary Wing Aviator Course and became a U. S. Army helicopter pilot when he completed that course at Fort Rucker, Alabama, graduating with Fight School Class of 66-20. After flight training Lt. Hall was assigned to the 191st Assault Helicopter Company, Fort Bragg, North Carolina and in May of 1967, David deployed to Vietnam with the 191st. Around noon on 29 August 1967, a UH-1D helicopter, tail number 65-10018 departed Blackhorse to recover another downed ship. The weather was bad and while attempting to return to home station, the aircraft entered a cloud bank. No further contact was made with the aircraft and a search conducted. The aircraft was missing. The aircraft and the bodies of the men were later recovered and their status changed from missing to dead on November 20, 1967. The six (6) men killed when their helicopter crashed were: 1LT Sharel "Spike" Edward Bales, Berthoud Colorado (Pilot) 1LT David Colin Hall, Hanson, Massachusetts (Aircraft Commander) SP4 Peter Steven Martinez, Chicago, Illinois (Crew Chief) SGT Louis Charles Muser II, Hoboken, New Jersey (Passenger) SSG Richard Lee Scaduto, New Castle, Pennsylvania (Passenger) SP4 Joseph Leon Whitaker, Jr, Ontario, Oregon (Gunner) 1LT David Colin Hall was survived by his wife Janet Ellis (Stevens) 1942-1984) Hall and daughter Michelle of Whitman; his parents, Emily Solveig (Olsen) (1911-1983) and Ralph Edmund Hall, Jr (1906-1970), brother Albert William Hall (1934-2008), and sister Sally (2008-Gilford NH). David was preceded in death by his sister Elizabeth "Betty" May Hall (1932-1951). He is buried, along with his brother Albert, in Fern Hill Cemetery, Hanson, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. His wife Janet was buried near her father in Hillcrest Cemetery, Plympton, Massachusetts. In 2013, the town of Hanson voice vote approved that the Hanson Commuter Train Station be renamed in David's honor. The documentation that went before the Town Hall Meeting read: "Lt David C Hall was born and raised in the town of Hanson, on the family farm which is now the site of the Hanson rail station. The Hall family was well known throughout the town of Hanson as during World War II, the Hall farm supplied South Hanson with poultry, eggs, and fresh vegetables during the war." "Mr. Hall, senior, was forced to leave his young family and farm in the midst of World War II and served in the United States Coast Guard in the North Atlantic during the war. Mrs. Hall and the children in the neighborhood kept the farm going during the war to feed the community." "Years later, upon graduation from college, David Hall, the youngest boy, entered service with the United States Army, where he gave his life. The entire family served their community and country during time of war. It is the least that the town of Hanson can do to memorialize their sacrifice and the life of Lt David C. Hall." "The Hanson Memorial Day and Patriotic Observance Committee has for well over a year implored the Massachusetts State Legislature to name the rail station in honor of Lt. Hall without result. Currently the towns of Scituate and Whitman are naming their stations after politicians. "The Hanson Memorial Day and Patriotic Observance Committee is asking the voters of the community to preempt the state legislature from naming our station after a politician rather than a soldier that gave his life for his community and his country." After that meeting, The Hanson MBTA declined the request noted above to rename the Hanson Train Station in honor of 1LT Hall, and in 2017, the town of Hanson dedicated a Town Square in 1LT Hall's memory. 1LT David Colin Hall Corner, Town of Hanson, Massachusetts - - - The Virtual Wall, June 3, 2022

Contact Us

© Copyright 1997-2019 www.VirtualWall.org, Ltd ®(TM)

Last update 06/03/2022