From a Legion News Article
By Steven B. Brooks OCT 12, 2023
One of the missions of The American Legion is to work toward achieving a full accounting of all POW/MIAs from the Gulf War, Vietnam War, Cold War, Korean War and World War II. This means returning living POWs, the repatriation of their remains, or finding convincing evidence why neither of these is possible. And once a former POW or MIA is accounted for and returned home to a final resting place, members of the American Legion Family often are among those welcoming that former servicemember home. Such was the case on Oct. 10, when Legion Family members from across North Carolina descended upon the town of Waynesville for the funeral of former Vietnam War MIA Capt. Fred M. Hall. A U.S Air Force pilot, the then 25-year-old Hall was shot down during a mission in Quàng Nam Province in 1969. His crash site wasn’t located until 1995, and it wasn’t until last March that he was identified – more than 54 years after the F-4 Phantom he served as navigator on crashed. With the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains as the backdrop, Legion Honor Guards stood near Hall’s gravesite in Green Hill Cemetery, as other Legionnaires, American Legion Auxiliary members, Sons of The American Legion and American Legion Riders helped stage a flag line that the caisson and riderless horse passed by as it reached its final stop. Hall was born and raised in Waynesville and was buried with full military honors near his parents’ graves. “This is what we do. We’re supposed to follow our preamble to our constitution by remembering all incidents of our associations in the great wars,” said Legionnaire Jim McGill, the past North Carolina American Legion Division V commander and the department commander’s representative to the American Legion Riders for the department. “More importantly, at every American Legion event, we have the remembrance of the POW/MIA chair and the ceremony before every meeting. There’s no better way to honor it than by coming out and showing support as these soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines are returned back to their country from foreign soil.” A member of American Legion Post 104 in Sylva and the organizer for the Legion’s efforts to honor Hall, McGill was one of a handful of North Carolina American Legion Riders who helped escort Hall’s remains from the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in South Carolina to Waynesville two days before the funeral. “This is the second escort that I’ve done,” McGill said. “It’s always a great event. It’s … again showing support for the fallen. It’s about escorting and remembering and celebrating the life (of the servicemember).” Honor guards from various posts, including Post 47 in Waynesville – which hosted a reception for Legion Family members following the funeral – and Macon Post 108 in Franklin, stood near Hall’s grave. Brian Morin, a member of Post 47’s honor guard and a U.S. Navy veteran, said being able to welcome Hall home was “an awesome feeling.” He noted that Hall was missing longer than Morin has been alive. “I’m 52 years old, and I respect these Vietnam vets and World War II vets. I respect all military,” Morin said. “I joined the service because I love my loved ones back home. I’m on the honor guard so I can honor my fellow vets.” Department Chaplain Monica Lockwood, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and member of American Legion Post 82 in Shelby, drove more than two hours to attend the funeral. “It’s to give honor to a veteran who was found … and put to rest in his city,” Lockwood said. “It’s an awesome experience. I belong to three different honor guards, so serving a veteran that is deceased is my honor and privilege. And the family (of the veteran) appreciates it so much.” North Carolina Division V Commander Wayne Mihelich, a member of Post 29 in Lenoir, also was in attendance out of a sense of obligation to Hall and his surviving family. “It’s the right thing to do,” he said. “We’re here today to remember him, to pay homage to what he did for our nation, and also to show his family that we’ve never forgotten about him, and so we’re here at the end, also.” The strong showing by the Legion Family provided an opportunity to continue to make the general public aware of the more than 81,000 U.S. servicemembers still listed as missing in action since World War II. “Unfortunately, too many people don’t know what our military,” Mihelich said. “By us getting together here to honor this gentleman … it reminds everyone of what he did, and of what this station stands for. And what we veterans stand for. Because we never leave those who have fallen in action behind. We always bring them home, and that’s what we’re doing. And to show younger generations how important this is, because some just don’t understand.” Mihelich helped do the latter by bringing with him the West Caldwell Navy JROTC Color Guard, which won first place in the 2023 American Legion National Convention’s Color Guard contest in the NJROTC Open Division. Members of the color guard also stood near Hall’s gravesite during the funeral. “I brought them so that they can see what we do, what this is all about,” Mihelich said. “And also, to honor the ideals of what this nation stands for, and the captain and his family as they bring him to his final resting place.”
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