By Amy Orndorff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 3, 2007; A12
First Lt. Benjamin John Hall followed his father nearly every step of his life. Like his father, Hall was an Eagle Scout, attended Michigan Tech and joined the Army.
Hall, 24, who grew up in Woodbridge and elsewhere, died Tuesday in Asadabad, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit in Chowkay Valley, the Defense Department announced.
"He was just my hero," John Hall, a retired Army colonel who lives in Fredericksburg, said yesterday of his son. "Just the type of person he was -- giving, humble -- and he was just the type of guy people were drawn to."
Ben Hall was born in Texas and moved often with his family as his father was transferred from one Army post to another. But as he grew up, he found activities he could pursue wherever he went. John Hall said that when he was stationed in Germany for two years, his son made an all-Europe cross-country team. When the family moved to Woodbridge, Hall ran competitively as a senior at C.D. Hylton High School.
The second of four children, Ben Hall often helped his mother take care of his younger brother, Joe Hall, now 10, and made time for his two sisters. As a teenager, Ben would take Joe everywhere, even to cross-country practice.
"Joe was Ben's," John Hall said. Ben, the father said, "never worried about being cool or looking cool around his friends."
For an Eagle Scout project in Washington state, Ben Hall led a troop in refurbishing a Fourth of July monument, his father said.
While he was in college, Hall painted the house of a man who lived near his parents in Fredericksburg. "He was one of the finest boys I have ever known," said Carl Grenn, the neighbor. "He was one of America's best. He had all the great qualities that we expect from our children."
At Michigan Tech, Ben Hall majored in political science and was a top cadet in his ROTC unit. He became a paratrooper and an Army Ranger, John Hall said. "That was his dream," John Hall said. "He was dedicated to it."
Hall stayed in close touch with his family during the 15 months he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, based in Vicenza, Italy. He considered making a career of the Army.
Hall's mother, Sarah Hall, though proud of her son's Army service, tried to persuade him to explore other occupations.
"She knew there would be a day like this," John Hall said.
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