The Daily Mining Gazette - Published: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 Print Article | Close Window MTU grad dies in Afghanistan CAPTION: Benjamin Hall By SARA WAISANEN, DMG Writer HOUGHTON — 1st Lt. Benjamin John Hall was a mentor to the Michigan Tech University U.S. Air Force ROTC cadets who were under him and they remember him fondly after his death in Afghanistan. The 2005 Tech graduate died July 31 from enemy fire in Chowkay Valley, close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, said Lt. Col. Dallas Eubanks, professor of military science at Tech and Reserve Officer Training Corps commander. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in Vicenza, Italy, the Washington Post reported Friday. “I remember him as being committed to his service,” 2nd Lt. Philip Ribeiro said. “He was always very dedicated to ROTC and serving his country.” Hall majored in social science with a concentration in political science at Tech. He was also part of the ROTC program. Professors and MTU cadets remembered Hall as being “a solid foundation like a rock that everyone could depend on,” Ribeiro said. “It’s too bad. It’s so hard to believe he’s gone.” Hall has been submitted for a Bronze Star, which is the fourth highest medal for valor in combat, Eubanks said. He is the first cadet from Tech, Army or Air Force, killed in the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, he said. Hall was “always focused on going into the military and a military career,” MTU history professor Terry Reynolds said. “He was trying to get a well-rounded education as part of the background of becoming an officer.” Hall was a Cadet Battalion Commander at Tech, where he spent his college years shaping and mentoring cadets in the ROTC program. “His knowledge of military doctrine was unbelievable,” Completion Cadet Bobby Putnam said. “He was the type of person to go out of his way to help the other cadets.” Hall’s father, John Hall, attended Tech and was a Cadet Battalion Commander in the 1970s, Eubanks said. He also went to ranger school, like his father, and followed in his footsteps, Eubanks said. Ben and John may have been the only father-son team to graduate as ROTC cadet commission, he said. “I don’t think anyone can say they didn’t learn a whole lot from him,” Putnam said. Eubanks said Hall was the reason so many cadets stayed in the program. “He was basically a mentor to me when I was a freshman and sophomore,” Completion Cadet Casey Luskin said. “You could go to him day or night to talk with him and he’d take the time to respond to you.” Tech remembered Hall with a moment of silence during a Board of Control meeting, Eubanks said. Hall’s body has returned to the States and he will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, he said. Hall made a difference in the lives of others and was doing what he wanted to do. “He was definitely born to be in the Army,” Putnam said. “He loved it.”