Thursday evening, my wife and I attended the viewing of Mr. Larry Hall who passed away rather suddenly at the age of 59. We had only met Larry a handful of times at either our HOA board meetings, GNWatch events and a garage sale, but it was clear from each meeting that he was a fine man. I have enjoyed many conversations with Larry's wife Andrea Hall, who you may recognize as a local real estate consultant.
You can read all about Larry, the former Marine Corp Aviator and later Naval tactical jet pilot in his obit here, but I'd like to add something that you won't read.
Larry was an EA-6B pilot. He flew combat missions first as a Marine in Vietnam, then switched to the Navy and once again saw action in DESERT STORM. The Prowler conducts electronic warfare and goes against enemy air defenses supporting ground attack aircraft. During DESERT STORM, Larry and his crew launched well ahead of the rest of the force in order to neutralize the threat to make it safer for the rest of the packages that would follow. I have several colleagues who either flew in the EA-6B (there is a crew of four to conduct the wide variety of missions on board) or flew in aircraft in airspace that was made somewhat safer to operate in thanks to their Prowler buds. He had been recognized as a pilot of the year and received more awards and decorations than you can shake a stick at, including the Distinguished Flying Cross with Combat "V" (that means Valor, folks).
Semper Fi, neighbor.
Bless him, that's an early age to go. My heart goes out to his family and friends. You're a good fella, Dave.
ReplyDeleteThank you for resurrecting the narrative of this fine gentleman's bravery, Dave. Some people are just born to make this world a better and safer place. I hope stories like his never die. My thoughts are with his wife and family. What a terrible loss for them.
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