City, county students honor veterans

Hall began his military career in the U.S. Navy where his first mission was to recover pieces of the Challenger space shuttle that broke apart in January of 1986.

He later fought in the Gulf War during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991.

Recently, Hall served the United States during a tour of duty in Mosul, Iraq, where his unit was attacked in April of 2004. Hall was injured in the attack and was awarded the Purple Heart for his participation and his service in that conflict.

Later, Hall was re-deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan where he served with the 115th Signal Battalion until his recent return home to Franklin County.

“This has been a long war and it can be very hard not knowing where you’ll be deployed or when you’ll be deployed,” Hall said. 

While in Afghanistan, Hall said that he saw situations that made him even more proud that he and his family lived in America.

“Children in Afghanistan have it rough,” Hall said. “Male children have to come out of school at the age of seven and go to work in the fields. Females aren’t even allowed to attend school. They have to work in the home until they are married at 13 years old.

“An average day’s wage is $2.00 and they have no standards for their food. The live in a very different world than you and I.”

Hall said

Hall said he hopes that this war that was started by his generation would be finished by his generation so that none of the students in attendance would ever have to go overseas to fight.

“Hopefully through the leadership of our country we will be able to end this war,” Hall said. “That is my prayer for all of us. There are 108 soldiers just in Alabama that have given their lives in this war. The price of freedom has been very high.”

Hall is very glad to be home with his wife, Beth, and his two children, Courtney and Matt.

“It is good to be home and see my family and all of you students who are young and free,” Hall said. “I am proud to be a veteran and proud to be part of this community.”

During the program, Hall presented Tharptown School with an American flag that was flown over Afghanistan and a certificate of authenticity that will be displayed at the school.

“It has been great to have the support of people back home,” he said. “Tharptown has been one of the most supportive schools, and I am so thankful for the support they have given me and my family while I was away.”

In Phil Campbell, the high school and elementary schools held separate celebrations honoring the veterans of that community.

“Veterans Day is a way for the entire nation to celebrate the accomplishments of our nation’s past and the men and women who served our country,” Russellville Mayor Troy Oliver, a retired Army general, told students at Phil Campbell Elementary.

As he pointed across the room at veterans lined against the wall, Oliver told the students that the same people who left their families to serve in the military were the same ones who returned home to their jobs and regular lives.

“They are not just heroes because of what they did in the military, they are heroes because of what they did after they served.”

Staff Sgt. Hugh Plott spoke to the students at Phil Campbell High School and told them what serving in Iraq was like.

“We have to remember that al-Qaeda did not declare war on the United States military, they declared it on the United States,” he said.

“We have to defend our freedom and protect others who don’t have it. That’s what veterans should be thanked for.”