Lieutenant Vernon Dell Hall

Bronze Star

Vernon Dell Hall was born in El Paso Texas on July 24, 1922 where his father was a member of the El Paso Police Department. His father died shortly after his birth. His mother remarried and the family moved to Roy in Harding County where Vernon was raised. He graduated from Solano HS in 1940 and enrolled at NMAMC to study agriculture the next fall. Vernon excelled at school serving in numerous honor societies and as VP of his class and the student body his junior year. While at school he met and married Betty Hughes in October 1942. In December 1943 he enlisted and was commissioned as an Infantry officer assigned to the 222nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division. Shipping overseas in December 1944, the unit disembarked at Marseilles France and was quickly moved into combat as the Battle of the Bulge raged on. On January 1, 1945 the division took front line duty outside Salzburg France. On January 14, 1945 Lt Hall was assigned to command a combat patrol to infiltrate enemy lines to recover the bodies of an earlier patrol lost in action and to engage and destroy a German 75MM gun. In the course of the patrol Lt Hall was caught in a cross fire from two machine gun emplacements. Hit, he pressed forward allowing time for his patrol to retreat. For this action he would be awarded the Bronze Star. Once the emery territory came under allied control his body was recovered and today he is buried at Santa Fe National Cemetery. He was 22 years of age at the time of his death.