You may have seen this little piece on the CBS Evening News over the weekend. If you haven’t, this is one that will get you right in the heart.
Joe Hall is a 97-year-old man. He has lived a long and fruitful life with memories beyond the counting of them, but there is one memory that has remained with him for seven decades, a memory that shaped a recent decision he made. That decision was to have a Navy dress blue uniform made for him so that he could be buried in it.
The story has many layers of depth to it. You see, he fought in WWII on a USN destroyer escort as a 1st Class petty officer, though I never heard what his rating was. Those who have been to war, who have gone through the dangers and the heat of battle together know the deep, unbreakable bond and sense of brotherhood that arises out of that. It is a bond that transcends both time and space.
After the shooting is over and the warrior goes home, he might never see those brothers ever again, or, if he does, it might be at a reunion of his ship or his unit. But he remembers them and thinks about them often. The fact is that, when we came home from our wars, we all went our separate ways, as we were from cities and towns and farms all over this big country. And, when we got home, we went on to our work and our family lives, getting caught up in the demands and realities of daily living. But that sense of bonding still extends into eternity.
It appears that Joe Hall had been thinking about his buddies a lot lately. At 97, the thought of dying was not new to him. There is no fear in that thought at that age; rather it starts to take on another emotion altogether. Mr. Hall’s memories of his brothers went back over 70 years to when they were all young men, in the Navy, fighting the enemy together, some surviving those battles, others not. It is a funny thing, isn’t it? Though we ourselves grow old and see that old face looking back at us in the mirror, when we think about our war buddies, we see them in the vigor and vitality of their youth and see ourselves there too.
Thinking of his shipmates and of his own death, Mr. Hall walked into a tailor shop in his hometown recently and asked if they could make him a Navy dress blue uniform for him to be buried in. He told the seamstress there that, when he dies, he wants to meet his shipmates in uniform once again.
The seamstress, Susan Williams, could not turn this old gentleman’s dream down. She took up the challenge, even though she had never done a uniform of any kind before. Within three weeks, she had completed the uniform that Mr. Hall had requested. And, as you will see, Joe Hall was thrilled with the outcome. He now has his dress blues, and, when the time comes, he will be dressed to the nines to meet his old shipmates once again.
We send our respect to Petty Officer 1st Class Joe Hall for his service and for his love of this country and the United States Navy during WWII. We send our deep gratitude to Susan Williams for so generously and lovingly honoring this old gentleman’s request. We wish you Fair Winds and Following Seas, Joe Hall. You look great in that uniform!