Retired Col. George H. Hallanan Jr., 95, a man who is credited with assisting in the reactivation of the 10th Mountain Division (LI) at Fort Drum, died Saturday in Watertown.
A funeral service was held Wednesday at the Zion Episcopal Church in Pierrepont Manor. Hallanan was buried at Church Cemetery with full military honors.
Hallanan was born Nov. 18, 1917, in Red Hook, N.J. He enlisted at Fort Dix, N.J., before attending the last U.S. Army Horse Cavalry Officer Candidate School at Fort Riley, Kan.
His decision to join the Army continued his Family's history of military service, dating back to the Revolutionary War, according to his daughter, Felicity Hallanan.
"We do come from a line of men and women on both sides of the Family who have given to the United States through military service," she said. "Military service is an important part of Family tradition, whether you're wearing a rank or as a Family Member."
Hallanan married his late wife, Alice Marion Williams, on Nov. 7, 1942, at Zion Episcopal Church. Throughout his career, Hallanan, his wife and their six children, traveled around the world, including what was then West Germany.
"Like many veterans, my father left the active-duty military after World War II," Felicity Hallanan said. "When he was recalled during the Korean War, we were sent -- my mother Alice and the first three of the six children -- to West Germany.
"In the early 1950s, refugees were still pouring over the borders to escape the Russians."
They lived in Munich, and Hallanan remembers her parents providing assistance to refugees.
"That included responding to the knock of frightened, homeless, hungry people at the door," she explained. "It reached the point that my father was fond of saying he never knew when he came home just who he'd find in the bathtub or sitting at the kitchen table for a hot meal.
"Growing up with that gives one a lasting sense of responsibility to help others, even on Army pay," she added.
When Hallanan was assigned overseas where his Family could not accompany, they went home to Windy Hill Acres in Pierrepont Manor.
"Unlike many military Families, we had roots," Felicity Hallanan said. "I'm the seventh generation at our Family home of Windy Hill Acres in Pierrepont Manor, so that over the years and especially when my father had a hardship assignment, that was where we (went). When he went to Korea or South Vietnam, wherever, we could come home."
After more than 30 years of Army service, Hallanan retired as deputy installation commander of Fort Dix, N.J., in 1974.
After completing his military career, Hal¬lanan served as special assistant on the staffs for Congressmen Robert C. McEwen and David O'B. Martin, New York's 26th Congressional District, for 10 years.
Along with his other responsibilities, his goal was to station a major military unit at an old post north of Watertown, Felicity Hallanan said. Then known as Camp Drum, the installation was the largest in the Northeast, but it was used only a few months during the year.
"With the threat of Soviet invasion still a reality, the United States needed to be training forces to fight, not in its South, but in a northern climate similar to that in northern Europe," she explained. "At the same time, he was deeply aware of and concerned about the poor economic conditions in which so many area people were living, and (he) believed all of us could benefit immensely, not only economically, but also from the presence of multitalented people the 10th Mountain Division (LI) would bring to the North Country."
On Feb. 13 1985, the division was reactivated at Fort Drum, making it the first Army division formed in 10 years and the first located in the Northeast since World War II.
During Hallanan's lifetime, he spent years volunteering and actively participating in veterans' groups and other organizations, but his military service left a lasting impression on his daughter.
Being an "Army brat" allowed Felicity Hallanan to grow up as a part of an ever-changing world.
"My parents always saw to it that we were involved in whatever community in which we lived -- German is our second language. We attended local schools, shopped at local markets, were members of sports teams and Scouting units and choruses and whatever else was offered," she said. "We felt like representatives for our country whether we were in the States or overseas."
Hallanan said she has fond memories of her patriotic father.
"I don't know what impression the average person has of a Soldier; I do know that the one closest to me was dedicated, hard-working, principled and generous," she said. "The more I learn about the Soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division, the prouder I am of those who serve our country and the deeper my feelings of privilege to be a part of that story."
Hallanan received bachelor's degrees from Columbia University, New York, and Murray State University, Murray, Ky., and a master's from the University of Wisconsin -- Madison.
During his more than 30-year Army career, he was assigned to San Luis Obispo, Calif.; Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Meade, Md.; Fort Carson, Colo.; Fort Knox, Ky.; Fort Devens, Md.; Fort Leavenworth, Kan.; Washington, D.C.; Fort Belvoir, Va.; and Fort Dix. He served overseas in Australia, Japan, Germany, Korea and South Vietnam. He also served as a professor of military science and tactics for an ROTC program in Murray, Ky.
His awards and decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit (with two oak leaf clusters), Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal (with one oak leaf cluster), Meritorious Service Medal, Psychological Warfare Medal (Vietnam), Vietnam Service Medal, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal and Vietnam Campaign Medal.
Biographical information obtained from Col. George Henry Hallanan Jr.'s obituary, written by Felicity Hallanan, for the Carpenter-Stoodley Funeral Home, Watertown.
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