1LT Richard Walter “Dopey” Hall
January 4, 1921- December 10, 1945
Class 43-G-SE
100th Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group
Lt. Richard Walter “Dopey” Hall was a WWII US Army Aircorp Tuskegee Airman. He entered the service in Virginia and contrary to the information on the internet he was never in the 99th Fighter Squadron.
Dopey Hall was one of the original pilots assigned to the 100th Fighter Squadron when it was assigned to Selfridge Field, MI. He went overseas with the 332nd FG / 100th FS and he flew a complete tour of mission in the 12th AF in the Bell P-39 Air Cobra and an additional 70 mission with the 15th Air Force flying the Republic P-47D and the North American P-51C before returning to the States in November 1944. He also is also credited with had one ME-109 destroyed on 27 July 1944.
The details of his accident and untimely death of him and 1st Lt. Spurgeon Ellington is as follows.
At 0423, a North American AT-6D flying in poor weather crashed three miles south of the Army Air Base at Atlanta, Georgia, killing pilot 1Lt. Richard W. Hall and pilot rated passenger 1Lt. Spurgeon Ellington. The aircraft took at 0157 from Winston-Salem, North Carolina on a flight to Atlanta Army Air Base. The airplane arrived in the Atlanta area and requested a clearance on the Atlanta radio range. The airplane was cleared but the weather had been deteriorating steadily. Weather at the time of the accident was reported as a 300-foot ceiling. Investigators speculated that the airplane was attempting to let down when it collided with the ground. The aircraft exploded in flames upon impact, scattering wreckage and damaging civilian structures.
Class photo of SE-43G. Dopey Hall rear row, third from the right. and Dopey Hall and is ship Lucky 13. Also attached are the Special Orders assigning him from Tuskegee Army Flying School (TAFS) to the 332nd FG at Selfridge Field Mi. and the assigning him to the 100th Fighter Squadron.
Dopey Hall Ramitelli
Visit the TUSKEGEE AIRMEN VIRTUAL MUSEUM to see orders SO 105 and SO 106
Sources:
Craig Huntly, Tuskegee Airmen Subject Matter Expert
