More Than 200 Gather at Deans Farm Road to Remember Decorated POW and Beloved Community Member
BY MILES AND NICOLE LAYTON
CHOWAN COUNTY — Under clear, navy-blue skies on Sunday, more than 200 people gathered at Deans Farm Road to celebrate the life of Lt. Commander Thomas R. “Tommy” Hall Jr., a decorated Vietnam War veteran who spent nearly six years as a prisoner of war and dedicated his post-military life to his family, his faith, and his community.
The ceremony included a flyby by Navy jets, the playing of Taps, and the folding and presenting of an American flag to Hall’s widow, Barbara. The event drew familiar faces from across the region, including Chowan County Commission Chairman Bob Kirby and Chowan County Clerk of Superior Court Dwayne Goodwin, all gathering to honor a man whose humility was matched only by his courage.
“We’ve come together this afternoon to thank God for letting us know Tom Hall, family, friends, fellow flyers, fellow veterans,” said Hobbsville Baptist Church Pastor Tim Dannelly, who led the ceremony. “How wonderful to have all of you together today. And I can tell you that Tom would love this, although he would want to be somewhere off in the back back there behind the last person here. Very humble man, except when he spoke of his flying prowess.”
The pastor’s words drew knowing laughter from the crowd, who understood Hall’s characteristic modesty—except when it came to flying.
“I always thought of Tom as a very humble man. Everything he said was from a perspective of making somebody else more important than him,” Dannelly continued. “And I do remember asking him about his standing as a fighter pilot, and he told me straight up, the greatest of all time. That was his unhumble moment.”
A gallery of photos appears at the end of this story — a video is posted to the Albemarle Observer’s Facebook site.
A Life of Adventure and Service
The celebration painted a vivid picture of Hall’s remarkable life, from his precocious childhood in Richmond, Virginia, through his harrowing years in captivity, to his quieter but equally meaningful years in Chowan County. Hall’s war medals were displayed in a shadow box for attendees to view—a collection that included the Silver Star, Purple Heart, two Bronze Star Medals, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Prisoner of War Medal, the Navy Accommodation Medal, and six Air Medals.
Dannelly shared excerpts from a letter written by Hall’s siblings—brother Bobby and sisters Eunice and Frances—that revealed a young man whose intelligence, ingenuity, and adventurous spirit were evident from an early age.
“Tommy was advanced for his age, even when he was little, that he actually read the book the Call of the Wild before he ever started school,” Dannelly read from the letter. When Hall’s first-grade teacher called his mother to report that he was always daydreaming, his mother explained, “that’s because he’s bored. He can read.”
The young Hall was a tinkerer and inventor, building boats with his father from Montgomery Ward kits, constructing go-karts with increasingly sophisticated designs, and even creating a motorized vehicle from “a 20 inch girls bike with a Maytag washing machine motor.” One of his go-karts became so well-built that “two highway patrolmen came out and inspected it and found it worthy to be licensed and driven on the highway,” Dannelly recounted.
Hall’s mechanical aptitude extended to nearly every domain. He learned taxidermy, photography, beekeeping, accordion, guitar, and even taught himself to develop film for family Christmas cards. He earned his Eagle Scout rank and built a banked oval racetrack around the family garden using a hired bulldozer.
“Tommy never went halfway on anything,” the family letter noted.
Called to Serve
Hall graduated from Warwick High School in Newport News and earned a mechanical engineering degree from Virginia Tech. But instead of pursuing lucrative opportunities in the private sector, Hall answered a different call.
“Imagine that same young potential junior exec’s patriotism tugging on his heartstrings to join and become a naval aviator,” Dannelly said. “Picture in your mind as he flies a hundred combat missions over the unfriendly skies of North Vietnam. While his peers are earning great salaries building a portfolio, he’s answering his country’s call.”
It was during his Navy training in Pensacola, Florida, that Hall met his wife, Barbara, in a chance encounter that the family attributes to divine providence. Hall had been invited to escort a general’s daughter to a Navy function, but she never showed up.
“Well, that daughter never showed up. And so here’s Tom without a date. And then there was a local girl, Barbara Joe, a local Pensacola Belle. And she didn’t have a date. She had a date, but quote unquote, ‘it wasn’t working out,’” Dannelly read. “Hand of God, I’m telling you. So they decided, since the two of them were day, dateless, that they would go in together. And they did. Three months later, they were engaged at the end of Tom’s training. They were married.”
Hall was designated a naval aviator in Kingsville, Texas, in 1965 and certified to fly F-8 Crusaders in 1966. He served with the VF-211 squadron, known as the Fighting Checkmates, during deployments on the USS Hancock and USS Bonhomme Richard.
Six Years in Captivity
On June 6, 1967, during his 100th combat mission over North Vietnam, Hall’s F-8 Crusader was shot down by enemy fire. He was rescued by an Army helicopter that same day. When asked what he wanted for his favorite meal—a tradition for downed pilots—Hall requested only ice cream, unwilling to have anyone go to extra trouble for him.
Four days later, after weather prevented flying missions, Hall was back in the air. He was shot down again—this time captured by the North Vietnamese Army.
“One hot June day his Navy F8 Crusader is brought down by enemy fire. Now he’s on foot in North Vietnam,” Dannelly said, his voice growing solemn. “I wonder what went through his 26 year old mind that day.”
For the first two years of his captivity, Hall was listed as Missing in Action. His wife Barbara and daughter Donna didn’t know whether he was alive or dead. When his status was finally confirmed, it brought both relief and the beginning of a long wait.
Hall spent 2,095 days—nearly six years—in enemy captivity, much of it in the notorious Hanoi Hilton prison. He endured brutal torture and spent his first three years in isolation, with no letters and no contact with other Americans.
“He was brutally and painfully beaten and tortured in the entire time of his captivity,” Dannelly said. “I’ve heard him say himself, and you perhaps read in the articles that were released recently, that he understood everything. It was war and people are doing their duty, but he did not understand the torture. I can tell you that it was brutal. He was in isolation his first three years. No letter, no Americans to talk to.”
Hall’s daughter Christina “Christi” Hall Zember spoke during the ceremony, sharing the official obituary and personal reflections on her father.
“During his time in Vietnam, he was listed as MIA for the first two years. Mom and Donna (daughter) and his family did not know whether he was dead or alive. It took two long, hard years, but they suffered waiting for news as to what happened to him,” she said. “Unfortunately, they were able to finally release his name and let everybody know that he was still here and he was a POW.”
While imprisoned, Hall used his engineering expertise to help fellow prisoners. “During that time, he often taught his cellmates and other folks how to rebuild car engines from memory. He was able to help them create traps and things like that to protect themselves from the vermin and the mosquitoes,” Christi recalled.
Most importantly, Hall maintained his integrity under torture. “He consistently proved his loyalty to his country and his unwavering integrity by maintaining his silence when questioned,” Christi said. “He endured countless amount of torture while he was there in order to protect this country and his fellow Americans so that we could be here today to honor them.”
Faith Strengthened in Darkness
Perhaps the most powerful testimony to Hall’s character came from his response when asked how his imprisonment affected his faith in God.
Dannelly shared an email from Hall’s sister Eunice about a visit during Hall’s final days: “I went to see Tommy yesterday, and although he’s confined to a bed now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with his mind. So we had a good talk about many things. I asked him what his six years as a POW had done to his faith. And he said, if anything, it made it stronger. He said there were some POWs there who had never been to church, but when they left Vietnam, they were believers in Jesus Christ.”
“You can’t talk about death like a grand as a grand adventure unless you know Jesus Christ up close and personal,” Dannelly told the gathered crowd. “Tommy, Tom could say that those guys came unchurched to that prison but they left believing in Jesus Christ. He’s one of the ones who told them, this quiet, humble man, told them about the Lord Jesus.”
Hall’s faith wasn’t just tested in captivity—it shaped how he lived his entire life.
“Tom Hall, there’s a lot of things. One of them is a missionary of the Word of God. He did it in his way, like many of you do it in your way,” Dannelly said. “Tom was kind of friend, perhaps you’re one of those friends here today, that he would see a person in a circumstance that they couldn’t handle. They didn’t have the ability to handle his circumstances or perhaps a handicap or something or just difficulty that has overwhelmed them. And Tom would think up a way to solve that problem and solve it and give it to the person.”
The pastor continued: “Paul says in his Philippian letter, think of others as more important than yourself. He lived his Christianity. You don’t have to tell people you’re a believer in Jesus. You don’t have to Give them a little tract or drag them to church so that they sit there and squirm and sweat for an hour because they’ve never been. All you have to do is be friendly. Let them see what a Christian lives like.”
Operation Homecoming
Hall was finally released in 1973 during Operation Homecoming, after spending what his daughter calculated as exactly 2,095 days in captivity. A photograph from his return, which appeared on the front page of the Chowan Herald last week, shows Hall reuniting with Barbara and Donna on American soil—a moment of joy after years of anguish.
“Many of you, if you are local, saw in the news this past week an article with a picture of dad returning home with mom and Donna running up to him to greet him on American soil,” Christi said.
After his release, Hall continued serving his country as a flight instructor in Pensacola and later at Naval Air Station Oceana, before retiring from the Navy in 1976.
A Quiet Life of Purpose
Following his retirement, Hall and Barbara settled in Chowan County at Deans Farm Road, where they raised their family and ran a cabinet-making business. The transition from decorated war hero to local craftsman and farmer suited Hall perfectly.
“Many people referred to dad as a decorated war hero, but to us he was just dad,” Christi said. “He took pride in his craftsmanship building custom cabinets and often said if you want something done right, do it yourself. He worked from sunup to sundown most days while mom played Dover.”
Hall’s teaching spirit, evident even during his imprisonment, continued throughout his civilian life. “He continued his teachings with us and anyone else who had an interest in learning, as it was important to him that we all knew how to do things ourselves,” Christi explained. “Through his example, he taught us the value of self-reliance, resilience, strength, confidence, dependability, and family.”
Hall formed a particularly close friendship with a local farmer named William Winslow, who Dannelly described as Hall’s “best and closest friend because he liked the shenanigans that Tommy pulled all the time.”
“Dad was a farm boy at heart and always had a dog by his side, proving his force of joy in life was his animals,” Christi said. “He raised and cared for horses, livestock, monkeys, bees, and wildlife.”
Hall maintained his love of flying through remote-controlled airplanes, and spent his leisure time fishing, tending his garden, and “cracking jokes on the back porch, drinking beer with his friends and family, and watching his grandchildren and great-grandchildren around,” according to Christi.
His generosity extended to his Navy days, where he would use his officer privileges to check out movies for enlisted sailors—“a big thing if you’ve ever been enlisted,” Dannelly noted.
A Legacy of Service and Faith
Hall passed away peacefully on May 18, 2025, at his home surrounded by family—exactly where he wanted to be, in the house he had built for them at Deans Farm Road. He was 84 years old. She found comfort in her father’s faith and eternal destiny.
“I find comfort in knowing that he was able to peacefully leave this world to join Tommy and Heaven. I’m quite sure he’s happy to be up there forever in flight with his co-pilot. He would not have to worry about a day like today with all of this wind where he could fly because up there he can fly every day.”
Dannelly emphasized the same hope in his remarks: “When a man has spent almost a tenth of his life in captivity, having his well-being, his health, his body abused and beaten, a place like this meant the world to him,” he said, gesturing to the farm property. But Hall’s true home was elsewhere. “From the moment Jesus Christ became his Savior, he started his everlasting life,” Dannelly proclaimed. “That second that the body liberates the soul, the soul is forever with our Lord Jesus. Tom Hall, there’s a lot of things. One of them is a missionary of the Word of God.”
The ceremony concluded with full military honors. A detail presented the folded American flag to Barbara Hall, Taps echoed across the farm, and Navy jets roared overhead in tribute—a fitting salute for a man who loved flying above all else, except perhaps his family and his God.
“Thank you for being here to show your support for Dad,” Christi told the assembled crowd. “I’m not sure he would have wanted everybody here making such a fuss over him, but he was worth the fuss. So, thank you from the bottom of all of our hearts Thanks for being here.”
As the ceremony ended, attendees were invited to share a meal from Nixon’s in Edenton, North Carolina, and to view Hall’s military decorations and memorabilia. Two small single-engine planes remained nearby throughout the ceremony, silent witnesses to a life spent in service of country, faith, and community.
“Today’s show of support proves that he has touched the lives of so many, and his memory will live on with each of you,” Christi concluded, her voice steady with the same resilience her father had demonstrated throughout his extraordinary life.
In the end, the celebration honored not just a decorated war hero, but a devoted husband, father, friend, teacher, and man of faith who lived out his Christian values quietly and consistently, thinking of others as more important than himself, just as the Apostle Paul had instructed.
“Dad didn’t always show love in a nurturing way, but he showed it by providing for us, teaching for us, supporting us, instilling morals in us and giving us that trice sense of humor and sarcasm,” Christi said. “We definitely got it on this.”
As the crowd dispersed under the sunny November sky, Hall’s legacy remained clear: a life of extraordinary courage in wartime, humble service in peacetime, and unwavering faith throughout—a grand adventure that continues beyond this life.
