Thursday, April 22, 2010

Did you know Donald Hallman, Jr - 4th Division Marines, 1st JASCO?

I received an email with the following contents:
My mother in law's uncle was Donald Hallman, JR.  he was killed when he was 17 years old on Iwo.  He was a member of the 1st JASCO, I don't have the exact unit he was in but I do have a copy of his casualty card that I have attached.  Buddy, as he was known to the family, enlisted at around 15, some of the letters (and I do have access to them just not at this time) said that everyone under the rank of CPT knew about his age...he also mentioned some kind of training accident that occurred while training for Iwo...from what I can tell by adding bits and pieces together I think he was also on Saipan as he mentions being on the cover of a magazine.  Would you please ask Jerry if he ever heard of Donald?  it would mean a great deal to my mother in law.  Buddy was from Texas and his father was also in the Corps as a combat correspondent...he lost a leg at Peleiu and he and his son (Donald Jr.) were featured in Stars and Stripes or one of those type papers as being one of the few father/son marines.
ANYTHING Jerry may know about Donald "Buddy" Hallman,Jr. would be great!!
Unfortunately, Jerry does not recall Donald.

The 1st Joint Assault Signal Company (JASCO) while a single unit was deployed in smaller groups to support different battalions within the 4th Division. Jerry was associated with the 3rd Regiment, 25th Battalion and they went ashore on Iwo Jima in the Blue section of the beach.

Maybe other visitors of this site will know of someone who did know Donald.

If you do, please contact me. I'll connect you with the family of Donald who will be most grateful.


1 comment:

Unknown said...

I worked with Don Hallman when he was a copy editor at the Orlando Sentinel. I would love to know what became of him. He was quite a character and talked about being on Iwa with his son. Don also was a speech writer for JFK.

Ross Werland, Lake Geneva, Wis.