Doolittle Raid African American Soldier: Beneath Every Veteran Headstone Rests an Incredible Story

Doolittle Raid America’s response to Japan surprise attack on Pearl Harbor trained at Eglin Field Army Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle where African American Soldier Private Freddie Hall from Savannah, Georgia played a role in that top secret mission while serving as a member of the 822nd Engineer Aviation Battalion EAB building and maintaining airport airfield runways. James “Jimmy” Doolittle trained his Raiders on Runway 3 at Eglin Field where Pvt Freddie Hall most likely helped prepare the runway designed to replicate the dimensions of an aircraft carrier flight deck. The Doolittle Raid was launched from the USS Hornet resulting in the successful bombing of Tokyo, Japan as portrayed in the movie Pearl Harbor starring Ben Affleck, Alec Baldwin, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tom Sizemore, and Jon Voight.
Pvt Freddie Hall died in service at Eglin Field on 30 Jun 1942. Trae Zipperer found his veteran headstone covered in biological filth in the segregated cemetery Laurel Grove South in Savannah, GA. Using D/2 Biological Solution, clean water, a natural bristle scrub brush from the Magnolia Brush Company with Tampico fibers, a toothbrush, and a wooden paint stir stick, Trae Zipperer founder of By Memorial Day and VeteranGraves.com honored this African American military hero with a clean veteran headstone, flag holder, and American grave flag.
Pvt Freddie Hall was a black man who volunteered to serve his country in uniform prior to the United States entering World War II when he enlisted in the Army on 28 Jun 1941. Trae Zipperer researched the life and service of Freddie R. Hall using Ancestry.com, Census records, Findagrave.com, FOLD3.com, Google, LOC.gov, and Newspapers.com to discover Freddie R. Hall’s story of military service and sacrifice. Trae used information found to document the military service of Private Freddie R. Hall at VeteranGraves.com and Findagrave.com.
Beneath every veteran headstone is a story worthy of being told.