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The WWII Fallen Soldier Memorial was originally located on the northwest corner of Hall High School's campus. The war memorial trees were dedicated and official observance made on Armistice Day in a special program at the Hall High School auditorium. The trees were placed along the driveway into the school grounds from Dakota Street on the north--one for each Hall graduate to give his life during World War II. During the program, recognition was made of the fact that a fund left to the school by the Class of 1918, and never previously touched, had been used to defray part of the expense of purchasing and planting the trees.
Some of the 24 Norway spruce trees still remain. When the new school was constructed, many of the trees were removed.
Kim Cabodi added a granite boulder and plaque to the original 24 Norway spruce trees in 1969 as part of his Eagle Service Project. In an interview on August 12, 2025, Mr. Cabodi discussed the story behind his project.
At the time of his project, Cabodi was a student at Hall High School, and he also worked at his family's restaurant, the Campus Inn. Many soldiers would come to the restaurant, and when it came time for his project, he wanted to do something to honor veterans. His father told him about the trees at the high school going down the lane, and there was a story that every time a boy was killed, they would plant a tree. Cabodi, and many of his classmates were, however, unaware of the history behind the trees. He started interviewing teachers and others who might know something. There were no records--it was all word of mouth. He eventually found a handmade plaque in the auditorium with the names of 24 men who gave their lives during the war. He counted the trees, and sure enough, there were 24! He decided to make a memorial so that these men would not be forgotten. He started working with Valley Memorial Park to get a stone made, but it was many thousands of dollars. If he could find a stone and add a plaque, it would be more economical. So, he had a fundraiser through his familiy's restaurant and the American Legion guys threw some money into the pot as well. It wasn't as expensive, but it was still a lot of legwork. He raised enough money for the plaque, but he still needed to find the right stone. It was then that a family friend, Pete Devito. who owned a contracting business, came up with an option. The railroad had been using a huge granite stone as a marker west of Dakota Street. Now the question was how to move it! Pete said, "If you want that rock. You and I will get it for you, and if we don't ask, noone can tell us no!" Devito got a semi truck and a skid loader and pulled the huge granite boulder up onto the back of the flatbed and drove it to the high school. Cabodi had carefully selected the original location so that students would walk by it going into the school. Devito asked him which direction he would like the rock, and then they pushed it off and hoped for the best. Luckily, it landed perfectly in position! When the plaque was ready for mounting, Cabodi spent hours drilling the four small holes, and he had the blisters to prove it, which Devito found funny. But the plaque got mounted! It stayed there for many years until the school constructed a new wing. It was then moved to its current location on the southwest corner, still near the original 24 Norway spruce trees.
"There's a bond that you'll have with these guys. These young boys who left this small farming and mining community so that we can have the lives that we have-- that's what gives you pride in America. They all have wonderful, wonderful stories."
-Kim Cabodi
In 1969, Kim Cabodi placed this rock near the original 24 Spruce trees to commemorate the WWII fallen soldiers as part of his Eagle Service Project. Its current location on the northwest corner of the school grounds is actually its second location as it was moved when an addition was placed onto the old school.
This plaque was moved from the original large stone to its current location in the WWII Memorial Park on the east side of the school parking lot.
Plans for the new War Memorial located to the east of the new school's parking lot
In 2025, the WWII Memorial Park, now on the east side of Hall's campus, got some fresh landscaping and plaque markers for each tree, along with this website, to continue the tribute to the 24 fallen soldiers. These were all part of Ella Sartain's Eagle Scout Service Project. Ella is a Hall student with the Class of 2026.
"It was the hardest and the best thing I've ever done. It really changed me and my outlook on life to remember that most of these guys weren't that much older than me when they died, and they left behind so many people who loved them. I just want to make sure what they did never gets forgotten."
-Ella Sartain
Ella Sartain is the second scout to dedicate her Eagle service project to the 24 fallen soldiers. She started with the 24 names on Kim Cabodi's boulder and hoped to find a pictures of each soldier and biography information to make a plaques for each tree. She met with her U.S. History teacher, Ms. Carpenter, who helped her throughout the project, including organizing the Hall teachers to bake items in the foods lab to raise bake sale money at her Rip's Chicken fundraiser.
As Ella started her research, she soon realized that this task was harder than she initially thought. There was not much information or photos readily available. Ella reached out to the community on Facebook asking for information. 171 shares later, she started to connect with family members who had stories and photos to share. She also traveled to area libraries in Ladd, Cherry, and Spring Valley and found newspaper clippings, town historical books, and helpful librarians. She contacted the Spring Valley and Ladd American Legions, who were also eager to assist. Eventually, with a lot of footwork, emails, phone calls, and networking, Ella was able to find a picture for each man as well as his story. Many of the people and family members who heard about the project offered to donate as well. Ella raised above her initial goal and was able to break ground. She worked with Graphic Electronics in Spring Valley to design the plaques and her scout troop to build the posts. She also had wreath hooks specially designed by metal worker and blacksmith, Jason Joiner. With her extra funds, Ella worked with landscape architect Cara Finney to design a new garden area to enhance the rock. She placed a flagstone path from the existing sidewalk to the rock and purchased two additional benches for the park. A 25th post near the rock has a QR code to this site. Mr. Van Fleet, the tech coordinator at Hall, helped Ella to create this website where all of the information she gathered could be stored.
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