Pfc. John Derrick Halls was born on March 24th, 1922 in Southwest Colorado, in the town of Mancos, Montezuma County. His parents were Francis William Halls and Doris Hazel Mincher Halls, children of Colorado pioneers. On September 1, 1942, John Halls enlisted in the US Army in Pueblo, Colorado. He was eventually assigned to the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, and was placed in 2nd Battalion/HQ Company’s 81mm mortar squad.

Pfc. Halls conducted his first combat jump on June 6th, 1944 into Normandy, France during the earliest hours of D-Day and was struck by machine gun fire while assaulting the German artillery battery at Brécourt Manor. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his actions taken on the Brécourt Manor assault. (Read more)

Sergeant First Class Daniel A. Romero, a Colorado native, was killed on 15 April 2002 during an explosive ordnance disposal mission involving the destruction of 107mm rockets near Kandahar, Afghanistan.

SFC Romero was assigned to the Colorado Army National Guard’s Bravo Company, 5th Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group where he served as Communications Chief.

He was the first Colorado National Guard Soldier since the Vietnam War to be killed in the line of duty. (Read more)