Roo Tales are often lighthearted good fun, like the carefree days of my Austin College experience. But sometimes Roo Tales are somber, like the wartime days of Dr. Clyde Hall’s Austin College experience. Dr. Hall passed away this week at the age of 101.
It was a privilege to meet Dr. Hall on AC’s campus, to celebrate his 100th birthday. More importantly, it was an honor to interview Dr. Hall for a Roo Tale, with the help of his son Christopher. The interview was part of a story about George Firor, Dr. Hall’s Phi Sig fraternity brother who parachuted into Normandy on D-Day, June 6th of 1944.
Both Firor and Hall were Roo students in 1941-42, as a global conflict drastically changed their AC years. Hall described those trying years to me in the interview by email: “My undergraduate AC years were significantly influenced by the challenges of the Great Depression and the onset of World War II. Translated, this meant greatly decreased student enrollment and the necessity of having a job in order to cover all expenses associated with being a college student.”
Both Firor and Hall enlisted after that spartan academic year in Sherman. As Firor trained to parachute out of B-17 Bombers in England, Hall became a Medical Technician 5thGrade (Medic) serving in Nazi-liberated Algeria. Dr. Hall was in Algeria in August of 1943, attending to the medical needs of American soldiers, sailors, and pilots.
George Firor never made it back from the war. Thankfully, though, Clyde Hall did. He graduated in 1946, was an AC faculty member until 1988, and remained active with the college for his entire 100+ years. For most Roos, the story of Dr. Hall is his influence on Austin College and those with whom in came in contact over his many decades in Sherman.
But my brief relationship with Dr. Hall was a bit different. It was much less AC and much more World War II. To be honest, it was incredibly humbling to interview a World War II veteran and Roo legend who personally knew the AC subject of my Roo Tale: George Firor, who could have easily been one of the paratroopers seen in the D-Day film “Saving Private Ryan” by Steven Spielberg.
Spielberg is still at it in 2024, producing “Masters of the Air,” a series about the B-17 pilots of the 100th Bombing Group (BG). The 100th BG flew missions over occupied Europe both before and after D-Day. I watched with interest, and not just because of the experience of George Firor. My own great uncle, Austin Parrish, was a B-17 pilot. Like Firor, Austin Parrish did not make it back.
But there was one “Masters of the Air” episode where I wasn’t thinking about either Firor or Parrish. In Episode 3, the 100th BG flies deep into Nazi Germany in August 1943. Most are lost. Those few crews who somehow remain aloft are badly damaged. They cross the Mediterranean, hoping to somehow spot the safety of Algeria. They barely make it and kiss the ground. While watching, I couldn’t help but think: “Dr. Clyde Hall was there to greet them.”
It’s been quite a week. The 80th anniversary of D-Day took place, with only a few remaining World War II participants still with us in the land of the living. Dr. Hall has passed, making it fewer still. I wrote about this trend in the Clyde Hall preview of the George Firor Roo Tale:
“16 million Americans served in the military during World War II. Today, just under 200,000 (~1%) remain. Their stories about the conflict which saved much of the world from tyranny are rapidly diminishing. I’m honored I get to tell one, while there is still time.”
Enjoy the end of Episode 3 from “Masters of the Air,” when the 100th BG makes it to the safety of Dr. Clyde Hall’s Algeria. See the comments. A hat tip to Dr. Hall for being a Roo legend. And a personal thank you from me, for letting a young Roo interview a World War II Roo veteran, while there was still time.
