Oklahoma Town Names Street After Assistant Defense Secretary

Courtesy Photo | Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs Thomas F. Hall poses with some of his hometown educators during ceremonies Sept. 10 to rename 8th Street in Barnsdall, Okla., as Rear Admiral Tom Hall Avenue. Representing more than 200 combined years of education experience were, left to right, William Logue, high school speech and English teacher; Andy Vann, Hall's elementary school teacher; Hall; Joe Gilbert, his baseball and basketball coach; and Charlie Brooks and Joe Baker, both former teachers and principals. Photo by Stephen Overaker, courtesy of the Barnsdall Times  

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES

09.11.2003

Courtesy Story

Defense.gov         

State and local dignitaries in Oklahoma honored Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs Thomas F. Hall, renaming a street in his honor Sept. 10 in his hometown of Barnsdall.

Barnsdall's former 8th Street is now Rear Admiral Tom Hall Avenue. Hall retired from the Navy as a two-star admiral after 34 years of service, which included a combat tour in Vietnam.

Among the dignitaries attending the day's events was Maj. Gen. Harry M. "Bud" Wyatt III, Oklahoma's adjutant general. Many people involved in the assistant secretary's life in Barnsdall -- including teachers, principals, and his basketball and baseball coach participated in events honoring Hall at Barnsdall High School. The day's events culminated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the renamed street, and a reception hosted by the town's chamber of commerce.

Hall is a 1963 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He is responsible for overall supervision of the Defense Department's reserve component affairs. He is the principal staff assistant to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on all matters involving the 1.3 million members of the U.S. armed forces' reserve components.

Story by Chief Petty Officer Susan Hammond, USNR, Special to American Forces Press Service

• Date Taken: 09.11.2003
• Date Posted: 07.04.2025 01:59
• Story ID: 533030
• Location: WASHINGTON, US