Perry Hall

I was visiting my older brother last week and ran across a photo in his album of Perry Hall. Perry was two years older than my brother and was not one of my mother's favorites who saw him as a rough neck and a bad influence on my brother Harold. Perry did seem a bit undisciplined. He lived with his father and his father's girlfriend - a no-no in the 1930s in a ramshackled house on the hill overlooking South Borad Street at the entrance to Yardville Heights. At that time there was a dirt road that started at the entrance to the Heights, ran parallel to Broad Street and curved back to the Middleton homestead which stood above the lake. The Hall house stood on a ridge between the dirt road and Broad Street. See map below of "Who Lived Where". The Hall house was # 32.
Perry graduated from Hamilton High School in 1937. He entered the Navy in October 1937 - the photo I saw was of him in his boot camp uniform, He served on the battleship USS Pennsylvania until he entered the U S Naval Academy in 1939. After graduation he served on a destroyer in the Pacific taking part in landings at Guadalcanal and other operations in that area. His destroyer (USS Sterett) was damaged during the batle of Guadalcanal and received the Presidental Unit Citation. Perry was awarded the Bronze Star for his performance as damage control officer. In Dec 1943 he began seving on submarines and was aboard the USS Chopper at Pearl Harbor when the Pacific war ended. He continued to serve in submarines until the 1950's. He retired as a Lieutenant Commander. Not bad for a roughneck.
Perry died on Dec 23, 200 in Milford, DE at the age of 81.