4 years ago
Meeting and talking to Ron Hall was a treat. He reminisced, and shared stories and we talked and talked. Ron has met so many Presidents, heads of state, lawmakers, and celebrities throughout his five decades working for the Air Force.
He was really impressed with Clint Eastwood. It was a mob scene at the Pentagon the day he came to meet with top brass. He was working on the movie "Firefox" and he wanted the Pentagon?s assistance on the project. As you might imagine, Ron?s fingers were sore from clicking away over and over again. By the time he was done shooting top brass and anyone else who wanted their picture with the international star, he had rolls and rolls of film. That?s when Eastwood leaned in and asked Ron about what he was going to do with all those rolls of film. Naturally, he was going to develop them and give them to the admiring fans. Clint graciously agreed to personally autograph every one of those pictures once they were developed. That really meant a lot to Ron and all those people who posed with Dirty Harry. And Eastwood was true to his word.
But the most interesting thing that happened during the course of our shoot at the Pentagon came at the end of our shoot as we were about to leave. That?s when Ron handed me his card, and then he asked some pointed questions. "Can you tell me the name of the young Marine at the heart of the Iran-Contra scandal?" I quickly responded, "Oliver North." He smiled and then asked, "Do you remember his young secretary, what was her name?" I shot back just as quickly, "Fawn Hall." That?s when he handed me his other business card. It read simply enough "Fawn?s Dad."
We talked a little bit about Fawn. He gave me an update on her post Iran-Contra. She?s living quietly in Southern California, in case you are wondering. He talked about what it was like to live through that whirlwind experience. He also told me that he and Fawn were quite impressed with one tenacious journalist. This woman called their house over and over and over again, never taking no for an answer. You may have heard of this person, her name is Barbara Walters. In the end Fawn finally agreed if she was ever going to sit down and do an interview it would be with Barbara. And she was true to her word.
So, as I was leaving I told Ron, "You?d better call Fawn out in California and tell her, you may have been interviewed by Barbara Walters, but I was just interviewed by Mike Walter." He laughed and we were on our way. We were heading back to the station to write our story, and Ron returned to taking pictures. Something he?s done millions of times in his 50 year career at the Pentagon.
Written by Mike Walter9News
