Thursday, March 27, 2008
WADE NKRUMAH and MICHAEL ROLLINS
The Oregonian Staff
SEATTLE (AP) - A
38-year-old Marine major from Seattle
has died in Iraq from wounds suffered
during combat, the Defense Department
says.
Maj. William G. Hall died Sunday from
wounds suffered during combat in Anbar
province on Saturday, the military said
Wednesday.
He was assigned to the 3rd Low Altitude
Air Defense Battalion, Marine Air
Control Group 38, 3rd Marine Aircraft
Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp
Pendleton, Calif.
A 1987 graduate of Seattle's Garfield
High School, Hall earned a bachelor's
degree in physical education from
Washington State University in 1992.
While at WSU, he enrolled in the Reserve
Officers Training Corps and later joined
the Marines.
In Iraq, Hall's family said, he was
training Iraqi troops to take over the
duties of American soldiers. He didn't
try to downplay the danger he faced, but
he also spoke of good things that were
happening.
"I know most of what you hear on the
news about Iraq is not usually good news
and that so many are dying over here,"
he wrote in a March 27 e-mail to his
family, two days before he was wounded.
"That is true to an extent but it does
not paint the total picture and violence
is not everywhere throughout the
country."
He ended his e-mail with: "Love you and
miss you. I'll write again soon."
Before his unit deployed to Iraq in
mid-February, Hall was selected for
promotion to lieutenant colonel, said
Maj. Jason Johnston, who is based at
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San
Diego, Calif. Though Hall's unit was
based at Camp Pendleton, it was attached
to the Miramar air station, Johnston
said.