After training as a U.S. Naval cadet in 1944 in Athens, Ga., St. Louis (where he trained in, among others, Boeing/Stearman biplanes like the one pictured below), and Pensacola, Fla., Dad was appointed as an Ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
George Hall, Planes of Fame Air Museum, Chino, Calif., Oct. 2009. Photo by J. Morgan, privately held by Liz Hall Morgan.
The memo above concerns appointment as an ensign and reporting to the commandant of the Naval Air Training Center in Pensacola, Fla., for further assignments. Dad's cohorts at the time included Arthur Dale Gripton, Robert Watrous Guernsey, Jerauld Anthony Gunzelman and Raymond Joseph Happley.
Above is the acceptance and oath of office, dated June 23, 1944. Dad's oath: "I, George Constant Hall, having been appointed an Ensign, U.S. Naval Reserve, do hereby accept such appointment and do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."
Dad's official notice of his new designation, "Naval Aviator (Heavier-than-Air)." (Meaning he is qualified to fly airplanes, as opposed to balloons or dirigibles, at least according to Wikipedia.)
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Copyright 2010 by Liz Hall Morgan, all rights reserved.
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