|
1ST LT. BENJAMIN HALL >> 'Everyone looked up to him' Army Ranger is laid to rest
Army Ranger with local ties buried at Arlington National Cemetery
BY JEFF BRANSCOME
Date published: 8/11/2007
BY JEFF BRANSCOME
ARLINGTON--A breeze swept through Arlington National Cemetery yesterday as mourners gathered behind a white hearse carrying 1st Lt. Benjamin Hall's flag-draped casket.
With military precision, six pallbearers lifted the brown casket and took short, brisk steps toward the burial site.
They placed the coffin by a large portrait of Hall in his U.S. Army Ranger uniform. A pile of yellow roses had been placed nearby.
Hall, 24, died from combat wounds July 31 in Chowkay Valley, Afghanistan. He was the platoon leader of an airborne brigade combat team based in Vicenza, Italy.
The funeral included traditional military honors, including a firing party and a bugler who played taps.
But Hall was anything but traditional, said 2nd Lt. Adam Moore, his roommate at Michigan Technological University.
Standing in front of Hall's casket, Moore recalled his friend's loyalty, sense of humor and leadership qualities.
He was a great athlete, a harmonica player and a card-carrying Eagle Scout, Moore said. He even ran a marathon dressed in military gear.
"Everyone looked up to him," he said, the sound of soaring planes in the background. "Everybody followed him."
People laughed with him, too.
Once, Moore said, Hall asked him for his advice before making a speech at a wedding.
"I said, 'Ben, just use your greatest attribute--your sense of humor,'" Moore said.
When Hall worked at a movie theater, he said, he wore fake glasses with a big nose and mustache--just to make people smile.
Hall went to high school in Woodbridge, but spent six weeks in Fredericksburg with his parents before training at Fort Benning, Ga. He would return here while on leave.
After his speech, Moore tightly hugged Hall's mother, Sarah Hall of Fredericksburg. She and her husband, John, a retired Army colonel, sat by their 10-year-old son, Joe.
Across the street from the cemetery, a group of motorcyclists stood side by side. Some wore vests embroidered with the words, "Combat Veterans of America Motorcycle Club."
"This soldier was willing to lay down his life for friends, for family, for country," Army chaplain Dusty Gray said in a closing prayer. "Lord, we thank you for his willingness."
The services took place under blue skies and ended with the sound of bagpipes. Some saluted the casket and others hugged.
Benjamin Hall's life may have been cut short, Moore said, but he made the most of it.
Jeff Branscome: 540/374-5402
Email: jbranscome@freelancestar.com
Read more stories about Fredericksburg
Date published: 8/11/2007
|
