Halls, John Derrick “Cowboy”.

Back to all people
airbornepurple heart

Halls, John Derrick “Cowboy, born 24-03-1922 in Mancos, Colorado, United States, to Francis William Halls (1889–1969)   and his wife Doris Hazel, born Mincher Halls (1894–1981) . John had six sisters and four brothers, Alpha Agatha Halls Smith (1915–2001), William Mincher Halls (1916–2013), Todora Halls Rucker Lansing (1917–1972), Thomas Harvey Halls (1919–1972), Iza Marie Halls Wareham (1923–1990),  Octavia Doris Halls Faris (1924–2004), Francis Jay Halls (1926–1975), Jared Peter Halls (1929–2008), Mavis Halls Foreman (1930–2001) and Margie Halls Hamilton (1930–2022). All four brothers served in the US Army.

John enlisted in the Army in 1942 at Pueblo, Colorado and after training at Fort Benning and then Fort Bragg, John would train for nine more months in Aldebourne, England with the 101st Airborne and was assigned to the 506th PIR,    under command of Colonel Robert Frederick “Bounding Bob” Sink, in the 101st Airborne under commans of Major General Maxwell Davenport Taylor. After training, Halls qualified as a Paratrooper at Fort Benning and headed to England in 1943, awaiting further orders…

John Halls jumped into Normandy on 06-06-1944, landing around the town of Sainte-Mère-Église.     John was a radioman, except he lost his radio during the jump. After meeting up with other men from E Company, and two others from the 82nd Airborne Division , Halls and the rest of his group came to the town of Ste. Marie-du-Monte.

John met up with 1st Lieutenant Richard Davis “Dick” Winters  of Easy Company, identified himself as being a radioman from Able Company who had lost his radio. After meeting up with other men from Easy Company and two others from the 82nd Airborne Division, under command of Major General Matthew Bunker, “Old Iron Tits” Ridgway, Halls and the rest of the group came to the town of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont.

Winters of 506th Easy Company was assigned to lead an attack on Brécourt Manor.

Death and burial ground of Halls, John Derrick “Cowboy”.

Halls and another Able Company trooper joined in for the attack. Hall supplied the men with TNT to take out the guns, and while running back to collect more TNT, they were killed by a landmine.

Cowboy Halls, who died age 22, on June 6th 1944, is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. Colleville-sur-Mer, Departement du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France. Section C Row 10 Grave 32.

Message(s), tips or interesting graves for the webmaster:    robhopmans@outlook.com

Share on :

end

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *