The four of them lumbered along the logging road until finally reaching the old fox hunting cabin about a mile below the crest of Big Stomp Mountain, an unassuming woody knob sloping gently towards the heavens from the floor of Ratcliff Cove.

For the first time in nearly 55 years, a Waynesville native and Air Force captain who didn’t return from his mission over Quàng Nam Province in South Vietnam is finally back among his family, friends and loved ones. 

Days before the remains of Capt. Fred Hall are to be returned to Waynesville for burial after he went missing in Vietnam more than 54 years ago, Waynesville’s Town Council has bestowed a special honor on him.

Missing in action for more than 54 years, Air Force Capt. Frederick Mervyn Hall of Waynesville will return home for a memorial service and burial next week.

America reckons with its legacy in Vietnam, one soldier at a time