Son of California Army National Guard Soldier Wins Coveted Award
“Sometimes life is about risking everything for a dream no one can see but you.”
This anonymous quote is a favorite of 16-year-old Aaron Hall, son of COL David Hall, Joint Force Headquarters, California Army National Guard. Hall attributes inspirational quotes as part of an encouraging force that pushes him to excel in all he does.
“It’s good to hear about what other people have done in their lives or just be able to [use it as] inspiration to make me want to make a difference and motivate me to be the best person I can be.”
No statement is truer of Hall, as he continuously strives to be the best. He is ranked first in his class with a GPA of 4.5 on a 4.0 scale; he is the captain of his school’s varsity baseball team and cross-country team; he serves as president of his local Key Club (an international student-led service program); he is president of his local Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter and president of his National Honor Society chapter. Hall is also a dedicated member of a host of other organizations and has worked to raise tens of thousands of dollars for local nonprofits.
In short, Hall embodies the term “overachiever,” and his endeavors have not gone unnoticed.
Hall was chosen out of Army and Air National Guard children from across the country as the winner of Operation Homefront’s Military Child of the Year Award for the National Guard component.
Operation Homefront is a national nonprofit with a mission of building strong, secure and stable military Families. Each year, Operation Homefront awards one child from each branch of the military with the title of Military Child of the Year. Children between the ages of 13-18 are nominated for award consideration based on academic performance and scholarships, volunteerism, leadership skills and extracurricular involvement.
After a series of interviews, a panel of independent volunteer judges with connections to the military community chooses one award recipient from each branch of the military, plus a winner for the Innovation Award, presented by Booz Allen Hamilton, to the child with the best new invention, improvement to existing technology or creation/expansion of a nonprofit or community service group.
Winners are flown with a parent or guardian to Washington, D.C., where they are recognized at a formal award gala. Senior leaders of each branch of the military present the awards to their corresponding students. Winners also receive a $10,000 cash prize and a laptop computer. Each year the gala is held in the month of April, which the DoD has designated as Month of the Military Child.
Hall’s parents surprised him with the news of his award when they urged him to look at the Operation Homefront Facebook page.
“When they first told me to go check Facebook, I thought they were kidding,” Hall said. “Then I checked it and it kind of blew my mind. It took me a while to actually comprehend it all. It feels fantastic. It’s surprising, but fantastic none the least.”
COL Hall admitted that his son’s winning was a surprise to him as well.
“You don’t really believe that your child is going to be selected,” said COL Hall. “Obviously, you hope for it, but you know that there are a lot of great kids out there. I was quite surprised. It’s an honor to be selected as Military Child of the Year, so I’m definitely proud of him.”
Despite the initial shock felt by both father and son, given his impeccable record, Hall’s receiving the award should come as no surprise at all.
“He’s a very good kid,” COL Hall said. “He does well academically. He does well athletically. He competes on some great teams, and the thing that is probably most important is he tries to be a leader in everything that he does. He’s very values-based and has a solid moral grounding.”
Part of the criteria to earn a title of Military Child of the Year is showing resiliency when facing the challenges of military Family life. COL Hall transitioned from active duty Army to the Army National Guard when his son was just two years old. Hall has experienced the ups and downs of being a military child his entire life.
“All things together, including deployments and training, there’s probably three [full] years that we’ve been away from each other,” explained COL Hall. “Now, I’m away during the week and I come home on the weekends. That’s a huge challenge for any kid to handle. But he chose to use positive outlets, like getting active with school and sports. I think those positive outlets ultimately make him stronger because he’s able to be more resilient.”
Hall decided to channel his energy during his father’s 2016 deployment into the development of a new community event. He created a military appreciation ballgame with his school’s varsity baseball team. Hall initially formed the event as a way to get a head start on his school community service project – a requirement for graduation from Hall’s school, Minarets High School in O’Neals, California.
“Instead of starting it when I was a senior, I wanted to start when I was a freshman,” Hall said. “Since my dad was deployed at the time, it gave me something to take my mind off of [his being away] and gave me a way to give back to the community and raise money for a nonprofit.”
The military appreciation game honors current and past service members with a dinner served after the ballgame. The dinner is free for veterans and military personnel. Non-service members are asked to make donations as payment for the dinner. Proceeds from the game go to Doc’s Dogs for Vets, an organization created by the family of the late SPC Benjamin Pleitez. SPC Pleitez, a medic known as “Doc,” was a California Army National Guard Soldier who died in 2012 while serving in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. His family established Doc’s Dogs for Vets in honor of him and his dream of starting a kennel for breeding and training dogs. The nonprofit works to provide trained service dogs to veterans who can benefit from canine companions.
“[His family] basically took his dream and turned it into a nonprofit that continues to support Soldiers, which is pretty amazing,” said COL Hall. “They could have turned to anger, but instead they chose love.”
So far, Hall has put on two annual appreciation games. The first game attracted about 100 attendees and almost 200 people attended the second. Hall has already raised roughly $7,000 for the third game, even though it is still in the planning phase.
“[The games have] definitely taken a lot of support,” COL Hall said. “I think people like to support good people and people see good things in Aaron.”
“The turnout has been great,” Hall said of the benefit games. “I’m starting to give back rather than just receiving things from my community. It’s [refreshing] to feel like I’m doing something in return.”
COL Hall said that it is no surprise his son is eager to give back to his community. He emphasized how Hall’s longing to “contribute to society, not just take from it,” is due to the vital role the community played in his son’s upbringing.
“His entire life we’ve had to rely on a lot of friends and community to help raise him,” explained COL Hall. “He’s played baseball for eight years. For up to three of those years, I wasn’t around to help coach and help him improve. It’s taken this team to help him become who he is. The community in a lot of ways surrounded him and helped make all of these events and ideas come to fruition.”
Along with community support and his own determination, Hall credits his accomplishments to his parents’ unfaltering encouragement.
“A lot of it has to do with having really supportive parents,” Hall explained. “They keep me on track and from getting distracted. Between that and a lot of late nights, it all seems to fall into place.”
Like his father before him, Hall said he would like to attend West Point after he graduates high school. Though, as he is still in his junior year, he is not opposed to exploring other opportunities that may become available to him.
“I’m just keeping my doors open and seeing what presents itself,” Hall said.
When asked what he sees in his son’s future, COL Hall said with a laugh, “I have no idea.” While he doesn’t know exactly where his son’s future path will lead, COL Hall said he is confident the path is full of promise.
“A lot of people assume he’s going to go to West Point and be in the Army,” COL Hall said. “If that’s what he wants, I hope he gets that. What I do know is that if he keeps applying himself, he will be successful in whatever he decides to do.”
BY STAFF WRITER Tatyana White-Jenkins
