Marine Lt. Col. William G. Hall

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Lt. Col. William G. Hall, 38, of Seattle

Lt. Col. Hall 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.; died March 30, 2008 in Baghdad, Iraq, from wounds sustained while conducting combat operations.

Seattle Post Intelligencer -- Marine Lt. Col. William G. Hall, a Garfield High School and Washington State University graduate, was killed Saturday in Iraq, according to his family.

Hall, 38, who grew up in Skyway south of Seattle, is one of the highest-ranking U.S. military officers killed in the war. Information about the circumstances of his death was not immediately available from the Defense Department, which had not released an official notice of his loss.

He was the second member of the armed forces with local ties to die in Iraq on Saturday. The Defense Department announced Tuesday that Army Spc. Durrell L. Bennett, 22, of Spanaway was one of two soldiers serving with the 1st Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kan., who were killed by a roadside bomb and small-arms fire in Baghdad.

Hall's family said the husband and father of four died while riding in Fallujah in a vehicle that struck a roadside bomb. He was on his third deployment there, having arrived in February, and had been promoted to his new rank a month ago.

Hall had told his family not to worry about this deployment because there was more to teach than to fight.

Yet his life was ended by a bomb hidden in the roadway as he was being driven from his quarters to the school, said Pat Ward, the Mukilteo police and fire chaplain and a longtime family friend.

"I can't tell you how fine this young man was -- the finest husband, father, son, Marine, individual -- warm, gracious, just our very best," Ward said. "My heart breaks."

Hall's mother, Millie, of Skyway, declined comment Tuesday, deferring to other family members. Hall "believed strongly in growing, living and learning, and he did all of those things with great courage and integrity," his family said Tuesday in a statement.

Hall's wife and mother first learned in a phone call from the Marine Corps that he was in surgery after being injured. Later, two supportive Marine casualty-notification officers arrived at their door and they knew.

The Marines have been at their side since, family members said.

"He had just been transferred to California and his wife and children were just here in Seattle for Christmas. He wanted to return here someday," said a cousin, Ingrid Goodwin of Seattle.

Hall graduated in 1987 from Garfield, where he had been a member of the school's marching band. He earned a degree in physical education from WSU, where he enrolled in ROTC, which led to his commission in the Marine Corps. In 2006, he earned a master's degree from the University of Phoenix.

Hall's family and friends last heard from him by e-mail from Iraq on Thursday.

"I am sure the first question in each of your minds is my safety, and I am happy to tell you that I'm safe and doing well," he wrote. He signed it "Billy" -- the name those closest to him knew him by.

While his 15-year military career took him many places, Hall's heart remained here, where he grew up nurtured by his adoptive parents, Mildred and the late William Hall.

Hall now will make one final trip home. His body is expected to return to Seattle on Thursday. A memorial service with military honors, at which the public is welcome, is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, 2801 S. Jackson St., Goodwin said.

Hall will be laid to rest next week at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia across from the nation's capital.

Hall is survived by his wife, Xiomara; daughters Tatianna (Tia), 6, and Gladys, 3; stepsons Xavier, 13 and Xander, 9; his mother, Mildred Hall, sisters Dolores Perry and Margie Bell; and a host of other relatives.

Marine Lt. Col. William G. Hall was killed in action on 3/30/08.