Fallen Air Force Captain Laid To Rest
A funeral was held at the USAFA Cadet Chapel for an Air Force airman killed in Djibouti last month.
30-year-old Captain Ryan P. Hall, a Pine Creek graduate, leaves behind his parents, two brothers, five nieces and nephews and his girlfriend.
“Ryan gave his life out of love, he loved his lord, he loved his family and he loved this great nation and for that he was willing to give his all and may he rest in peace,” said Dennis Hall, Ryan Hall’s father.
Governor John Hickenlooper ordered flags at half-staff today in honor of the fallen airman.
This was Hall’s seventh overseas deployment.
Hall is said to have loved the outdoors, and enjoyed hunting, fishing and playing golf.
Hall’s father said he now cherishes the elk hunting excursions the two embarked on over the years, in particular a trip into the Colorado Rockies last summer.
“That experience has now become my last great memory and cherished memories. The time that father and son could spend together an entire day where it was just he and I,” said Dennis Hall.
Ryan Hall also loved to travel, and was described as the life of the party.
“I do want people to understand what a wonderful young man [he was], how proud we are as a family that we were given the gift of him for the short period of time that we were,” said Dennis Hall.
The Defense Department says Hall, of Colorado Springs, is among four people killed when a U-28 military plane crashed in Djibouti, Africa on Feb. 18th.
Hall was assigned to the 319th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla. Hurlburt Field told KRDO Newschannel 13 that Hall was a pilot with more than 1,300 combat flight hours.
Hall was assisted by Nicholas S. Whitlock of Newnan, Ga., who had more than 800 combat flight hours.
Air Force Academy graduate, 26-year-old 1st Lt. Justin J. Wilkens of Bend, Ore. and 26-year-old Senior Airman Julian S. Scholten of Upper Marlboro, Md. were also killed during the crash.
