My cousin, Doug Hall, was buried Friday, November 28, in the National Cemetary in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Doug was a retired school teacher. He was 87. I didn't know of his death until today. I really admired Doug. He was a true American hero.
He graduated from Mansfield, Arkansas High School in 1941. Like a lot of young men he wanted to go be a part of the war effort. He wanted to fly. Turned down by the Air Corp he went to Canada and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. They trained him as a fighter pilot and he flew 30 missions in a British Spitfire. He would be shot down and injured as he parachuted to the ground. He spent eleven months as a POW. He was exchanged for a German POW and came home to join the Air Corp and fly 77 missions in a P47 fighter plane! Capt. Douglas L. Hall would receive Four Air Medals, A Presidential Citation, Purple Heart, POW Medal, and A Distinguished Flying Cross. Yesterday afternoon at the National Cemetary he was honored by a military funeral and a jet fly-by. The word hero is tossed around a bit loosely today. A hero, however, without question, was this country boy from Mansfield, Arkansas, who would not give up in his quest to serve his country in time of war. I salute you, Doug. You were a true hero of the highest order.
