William Evens Hall (22 October 1907 – 28 May 1984) was an American military officer who retired with the rank of lieutenant general in the United States Air Force.

Early life and education

Hall was born in McAlester, Oklahoma on 22 October 1907. He attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, graduating with the class of 1929. He was commissioned in the artillery. Following four years service with the Field Artillery, he entered Primary Flying School at Randolph Field, Texas, in 1933 and graduated from the Advanced Flying School at

Kelly Field Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he was piloting. In ...

later that year, receiving his wings as a pilot in the old Army Air Corps. He served actively during World War II, first as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, Headquarters U.S. Army Air Forces and later as Deputy Commander of the

15th Air Force The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Force ...

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

, Italy. After the war he was placed in charge of the United States Continental Air Command, an organization of more than 15,000 military personnel and over 8,000 civilian employees, and served as Senior Member and Air Force Representative to the United Nations Military Staff Committee in New York.

Personal life

His first marriage, to Helena Callaway, with whom he had four children, ended in divorce. He was later married to photojournalist

Marguerite Higgins Marguerite Higgins Hall (September 3, 1920January 3, 1966) was an American reporter and war correspondent. Higgins covered World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, and in the process advanced the cause of equal access for female war co ...

from 1952 until her death in 1966. His second marriage produced three children, one of whom died in infancy. An enthusiastic sportsman, he was active in athletics while at West Point where as a first classman, he captained the track team and received All-America honorable mention as a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

center. He was a

boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether Motorboat, powerboats, Sailing, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sp ...

and motorcycle enthusiast. He also loved animals, owning a

kitten A kitten is a juvenile cat. After being born, kittens display primary altriciality and are totally dependent on their mothers for survival. They normally do not open their eyes for seven to ten days. After about two weeks, kittens develop qu ...

, two dogs (one a deaf Dalmatian), a

canary Canary originally referred to the island of Gran Canaria on the west coast of Africa, and the group of surrounding islands (the Canary Islands). It may also refer to: Animals Birds * Canaries, birds in the genera ''Serinus'' and ''Crithagra'' i ...

and two parakeets.

Honors

Lieutenant General Hall's decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star and the Air Medal.

Death and legacy

He died at Cape Canaveral Hospital in

Cape Canaveral , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type =Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...

, Florida, of

internal hemorrhaging Internal bleeding (also called internal hemorrhage) is a loss of blood from a blood vessel that collects inside the body. Internal bleeding is usually not visible from the outside. It is a serious medical emergency but the extent of severity depen ...

on May 28, 1984.

References

1907 births 1984 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II People from McAlester, Oklahoma United States Air Force generals United States Military Academy alumni Military personnel from Oklahoma {{USAF-bio-stub