World War II Honoree

Phillip Tisdale Hall

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Raynham, Massachusetts

Honored By

Pete Hall, Cheryl Kelly & Cindy Plante

Relationship

Children

IN 1939 WAS A STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AND ENROLLED IN THE ROTC PROGRAM COMMISSIONED AS A SECOND LIEUTENANT IN THE U.S. ARMY RESERVE. HE WAS CALLED TO ACTIVE DUTY IN THE FALL OF 1940 AND ASSIGNED TO CAMP EDWARDS IN MASSACHUSETTS. IN JANUARY OF 1941, HE RECEIVED ORDERS FOR ASSIGNMENT TO HICKAM FIELD IN OAHU, HAWAII. HE WAS TRANSFERRED TO WHEELER FIELD, WHERE HE WAS PROMOTED TO FIRST LIEUTENANT. LATER PROMOTED TO CAPTAIN, AT WHICH TIME HE SERVED AS COMPANY COMMANDER OF THE 307TH SIGNAL COMPANY. FOLLOWING THE BOMBING OF PEARL HARBOR, HE RECEIVED ORDERS TO KWAJALEIN, IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS. HE THEN WAS TRANSFERRED BACK TO OAHU, WHERE HE WAS PROMOTED TO MAJOR AND SUBSEQUENTLY WENT IN ON THE INVASION OF OKINAWA. FOLLOWING THE WAR, HE WAS SEPARATED FROM THE ARMY IN THE FALL OF 1945. DURING THE BOMBING OF PEARL HARBOR, HE WAS ON MANEUVERS IN THE HILLS OF OAHU AND HE AND HIS COMPANY SOLDIERS HAD NO IDEA OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THE HARBOR BELOW. THEY WERE HEADED DOWN A PATH WHEN SOLDIERS HEADED UP THE PATH TOLD THEM OF THE BOMBING AS THEY HURRIED BY; HE AND HIS COMPANY MEN THOUGHT THE SOLDIERS WERE JUST JOKING. A FEW MOMENTS LATER, ANOTHER GROUP OF SOLDIERS TOLD THE SAME STORY AS THEY HURRIED BY; THE JAPANESE HAD BOMBED PEARL HARBOR. THIS TIME, THEY KNEW IT WAS FACT FROM WHERE THEY STOOD THEY COULD SEE SMOKE BILLOWING INTO THE SKY. DURING A BOMBING ATTACK IN OKINAWA, HE TOLD HIS MEN TO DIG TRENCHES AS FAST AS THEY COULD TO PROTECT THEMSELVES. WHEN THE BOMBING ENDED, ONE OF THE SOLDIERS HAD DUG A HOLE SO DEEP HE NEEDED HELP GETTING OUT.