'Be Like Ben,' Mourners Urged

Benjamin J. Hall was dedicated to making people laugh, bringing to college such gag items as a set of false teeth that chattered when he wound them up. And he was dedicated to the Army, becoming a top cadet in his ROTC program before serving as a paratrooper and Ranger.

First Lt. Hall, 24, died July 31 in Asadabad, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit in the Chowkay Valley. He belonged to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, based at Vicenza, Italy.

More than 200 mourners gathered yesterday on a hot morning as Hall, who grew up in Woodbridge and elsewhere, was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. A poster-size picture of Hall looked out at them from behind the grave site as people came to the front to speak about their friend, relative and colleague.

"This soldier was willing to lay down his life for friend, for family, for country, even for those who do not know him," said Lt. Col. Dusty Gray, an Army chaplain. He told the crowd to "be like Ben."

The mourners stood as seven riflemen snapped off three shots each toward the clear blue sky and listened as taps was played. Army Lt. Gen. Stephen M. Speakes presented a folded flag to Hall's parents, Sarah and John Hall, as the people near them dabbed at their eyes and held one another.

"He lived life to its fullest," said 2nd Lt. Adam Moore, Hall's roommate at Michigan Technological University.

Moore was in the ROTC with Hall and described him as the top cadet during their tenure. Hall was "a great leader and a great friend" with a sense of humor, he said.

While taking tickets at a movie theater where he once worked, Hall wore comical glasses with a fake nose and mustache attached to get a rise out of people, Moore said.

A runner, Hall once raced in a marathon and, a year later, participated in another in full combat gear, Moore recalled. Hall also ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

Born in Texas, Hall moved around the world as his father transferred to Army posts. He lived in Germany and Virginia, attended school in Michigan, trained in Georgia and was stationed in Italy.

"He was just my hero," John Hall, a retired Army colonel who lives in Fredericksburg, told The Washington Post in an earlier interview. "Just the type of person he was -- giving, humble -- and he was just the type of guy people were drawn to."

Like his father, Benjamin Hall became an Eagle Scout, a Michigan Tech student and an Army officer.

"That was his dream," John Hall said of his son's entering the military. "He was dedicated to it."

During two years in Germany, Hall made an all-Europe cross-country team, his father said. In Virginia, he ran competitively as a senior at C.D. Hylton High School. He graduated from Michigan Tech with a degree in political science.

The second of four children, Hall often helped take care of his younger brother Joe. He kept in close touch with his family during the 15 months he was assigned to his battalion and continued to do so after he arrived in Afghanistan in May.