STORY BEHIND THE PLAQUE
Service Reflections of SP5 Michael Hall U.S. Army (1968-1976)

I grew up in an orphanage and several foster homes. My last foster home was certainly the closest thing I had to a family. My foster dad, Major Frank Flanagan, was a bombardier on a B-29 and fought the Japanese. My real dad was in Korea and then fought against the Germans after that. He was with the “Screaming Eagles,” the 101st Airborne. I wanted my real dad to be proud of me and, at the same time, honor my foster dad…so I joined and went Airborne…having never even been on an airplane before! I will never forget, and I will always hold dear, how amazed and proud both dads were of my achievements.

I spent 8 years in the US Army and wanted to make a career out of it and retire. I began with Basic at Ft. Campbell, Ky., the coolest place I’d ever been to. Then, I took Advanced Infantry training at Ft. McLellan, Ala. This place was a mini Vietnam, as it had the highlands and swamps. Afterward, Ft. Benning, Ga., and on to Nam. After my tour, I ended up at Ft. Bragg, NC, and was sent to Parachute Rigging School in Virginia. Learning to pack your own chute was definitely a confidence builder! My direction changed when the military was converted to a voluntary unit while stationed at Ft. Bragg. Now you have people who couldn’t even read a map telling you where to jump from the Huey or whatnot. People were getting promoted for the wrong reasons, and I knew then my time was up.

I tend to reflect on the “funny and good” moments while serving in Vietnam. One has to do it when we were all put on APCs and told to bring protective masks. We set up blocking forces on each side of an old French Railroad tunnel, and some “leg” engineers went inside the tunnel where several 55gal cans of crystal gas were to be detonated. The tunnel had been used many times by the NVA, so this would make it unusable for a very long time. Shortly, a huge mushroom cloud rose above the tunnel, and everyone quickly realized it was also coming straight at us rapidly. We had these smaller protective masks, which were a lot of trouble to get out of the pouch. While fumbling around to put our masks on, the engineers were running towards us as fast as they could, yelling, “Anyone got an extra mask?” We all laughed so hard over how they could blow up the gas without bringing their own masks! All we could do was soak towels in water and put that over them as they huddled inside the APC.

Often, in Vietnam, this crossed our minds. I found that under most circumstances, you reacted as trained so quickly and without thought…and only after an incident did you realize how close it could have been. I don’t care to write about anything that brings on those memories, so I will keep this one short.

Fort McClellan, Alabama (AIT) was one of my favorites. This was the first assignment that you had time to enjoy after training. You could go to the “Hilltop” or USO, etc. I respected the Captain over us a lot as he was also from the 173rd Airborne, the unit I was bound for. He knew I was going Airborne and seemed to respect me a bit more. In one training exercise, he had me lead a squad into a village. I thought I did a good job of finding all the booby traps along the way. I cheated by tying a vine to the tip of the AR16 muzzle, and whenever it hit a trip wire, I could see it by the way the vine bounced. This place was indeed a mini Vietnam. It had swamps, high, steep mountains, and humidity.

My least favorite was Basic training at the coldest place I’ve ever known: Fort Campbell, Kentucky. There were Midnight Chinese fire drills, push-ups in boxer shorts, and other such activities. There’s nothing good to say about this frigid place where the hawk cuts through whatever you wear.

My proudest moment is successfully jumping out of that old C119…I’ve never flown before in any way, and I even had a fear of heights. I still think the pilots tipped the nose up on those C119s, causing us to push each other out before we knew anything.

The next would be after Nam, when I got out of the infantry and got into parachute rigging school at Ft. Lee, Va. Here, you have to pack your own chute, so you had better pay attention, lol!

Going Airborne.

Learning to pack my own chute

Mostly proud to be a Vietnam Vet

Jump Wings

Self-taught Mortarman, FDC, and moved on to RTO with the PRC25

Combat Infantryman’s Badge

Parachute Rigging School

Captain Brinsley, whom I still have deep respect for, was our first officer who did things differently and effectively while serving in Vietnam. He would often remind me not to come up to him when we were out in the bush for obvious reasons. RTOs made him a target. He would say, “Make all the decisions, and tell me about it later.” It put a lot of weight on my shoulders, but I became confident in what I was doing, especially reading maps.

Vietnam:
Capt Brinsley
Klinger
Snoopy Olinger
Poncho
Sgt Patterson
Sgt Lyman
Dagostino
Sobotka
Stockett
Cundiff…our M60 mach gunner.
Sgt Young

Once, on two two-man night patrols near Stag 7, we came across a square hole near a dike. We knew if we called it in, they would want us to go in and check it out….so we devised a plan and told the CP we were throwing a frag in to see if we’d get a second explosion. Sgt Sabotka threw a frag in, and we both hit the deck. Soon the explosion and then like heavy rain…we were covered in poop!!! It was a Vietnamese toilet. We looked so shocked but knew we had to throw another frag just because the CP could hear it and to avoid the embarrassment. We vowed never to tell anyone until we were out of Nam.

I got good at organizing a warehouse while at Fort Bragg and went to Charlotte Truck Driving School to enhance warehouse management roles. I enjoyed this field, from airdrop supplies to food distribution, from auto glass to trailer hardware. I managed warehouses for years and found it to be my cup of tea.

Presently, I am retired.

NONE presently

Serving helped me become disciplined and organized, which paved the way for my future. I miss the friends I met who were like family.

It has helped me better endure hardships and struggles and give my best in all things.

I am not sure about this newer Army, especially all the volunteers and the lack of the brown boot….but my best advice is to push yourself to give your best… It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks; be proud of yourself!

It’s somewhat painful remembering so much that I normally would keep inside, but I will always keep my Nam family alive, and this is one way to do that.