Hometown: Concord, CA
Branch: U.S. Army 
Unit: 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Washington
Military Honors: pending
Date of Sacrifice: August 25, 2009 - KIA in Shah Wali Kot District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan
Age: 30
Conflict: War in Afghanistan, 2001-2021

John Hallett III was born in Los Angeles, California, on July 6, 1979. When he was five years old, his family—parents John and Wendy, brothers Christopher and Thomas—moved to Pleasant Hill, 30 miles northeast of San Francisco, then moved again shortly after to the nearby suburb of Concord.

John was a standout student and participated in multiple sports at De La Salle High School in Concord. When he entered high school, he and a group of friends immediately signed up for the water polo team, despite knowing little about the sport.

Hallett graduated from high school in 1997 and was accepted into the United States Military Academy at West Point. Despite being new to the sport just four years prior, Hallett earned a roster spot on Army’s water polo team during his first year at the Academy. He’d become the team’s captain by his senior year.

Friends recall that Hallett had a knack for connecting with all types of people, showing genuine interest in everyone. He was also known for his “goofball sense of humor.”

After graduating from West Point on June 6, 2001, Hallett reported to Fort Benning, Georgia, for Basic Training as an infantry officer. Just three months later, Islamic militants attacked the United States on September 11, 2001. Four commercial airliners were hijacked by terrorists, who planned suicide attacks on multiple targets.

Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of New York’s World Trade Center. A third flew into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth attack was thwarted when the plane’s passengers rushed the terrorists, causing the plane to crash in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. 2,974 people were killed in the 9/11 attacks—the deadliest attack in U.S. history.

With the nation suddenly in a new kind of war, Hallett must have known that his training would be immediately put to the test when completed. Having excelled at West Point, Hallett earned his top choice of duty stations: Schofield Barracks Army Base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. He reported there in the spring of 2002.

While stationed in Hawaii, Hallett’s girlfriend, Lisa Garner, came to visit during a break in her studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Hallett proposed on Valentine’s Day 2003 at the top of Oahu’s Diamond Head volcanic cone.

Lisa recalled, “To me, he was the red-headed guy I’ve known since kindergarten. In high school, after we took a mission trip to Mexico, I confided to my friends that, ‘…someday I was going to marry John Hallett.’”

In January of 2004—just three weeks after their December 27 wedding—John was deployed to Iraq for a 13-month tour of duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Hallett returned to Hawaii in early 2005, after his deployment. Military life had the Halletts on the move. John was sent back to Fort Benning, Georgia in August 2005 for a captain’s career course. Then to Fort Polk in Louisiana in 2006, where he was assigned as a platoon senior observer-controller.

In describing her husband, Lisa Hallett remarked, “John loved to organize; he always left the house with pen and paper, ready to make a list… John loved the challenge of being in the Army and knowing that he had the opportunity to serve his country and help others through leadership, example, and duty. John felt a strong commitment to serve the country he loved.”

In late 2007, Hallett reported to Fort Lewis near Tacoma, Washington, where he served as a battalion personnel officer, an assistant operations officer, and as a company commander. By this time, the Hallett family had grown to four—welcoming sons Jackson and Bryce.

In November of 2008, Captain Hallett was given command of a Stryker infantry company.

Serving with the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Hallett’s unit was deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan on July 15, 2009, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. At the time of his deployment, Lisa was pregnant with their third child.

Little more than a month after his arrival in Afghanistan, on August 25, 2009, CPT Hallett was among a group of soldiers who were sent on a mercy mission, delivering medicine to an Afghan village that was suffering a cholera outbreak.

On their way back, Hallett’s vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. CPT John Louis Hallett, III was killed in the attack. He was 30 years old—and never met his new daughter, Heidi, who was born three weeks after he deployed. Hallett’s sons were just 3 and 1 year old when he was lost.

Also killed in the attack were CPT Cory J. Jenkins, SFC Ronald W. Sawyer, and PFC Dennis M. Williams.

“He was very passionate about what he did for the military,” John’s wife, Lisa, said, “but he wasn’t a blow-it-up kind of guy. He wanted to work with communities and try to make Afghanistan a better place to live.”

To cope with her grief, and in CPT Hallett’s honor, Lisa joined with her community of military spouses to establish “Wear Blue: Run to Remember,” a national non-profit organization. The group raises money to support “those preparing for a deployment, living through a deployment, recovering from a deployment, and healing from loss sustained during a deployment.”

Sources
Details and card photo provided by Ms. Lisa Hallett, Cpt. Hallett’s Gold Star Wife
Folds of Honor presents the story of Lisa Hallett (Video)
West-Point.org: CPT John L. Hallett III USA (KIA)
National Veterans Memorial and Museum: Inspiring Story of Service: Honoring Captain John Hallett
Fox News: Fallen soldier and devoted father lost in Afghanistan left legacy of true friendship
Wear Blue: Run to Remember: Mission & History
The Patriot All-America, Soldier Honored: John L. Hallett III
Military Times—Honor the Fallen: Army Capt. John L. Hallett III
The Baltimore Sun, October 25, 2009: Army Capt. John L. Hallett III, 30, Concord; among 4 killed by roadside bomb
Contra Costa Times, September 2, 2009, via Legacy.com: John L. Hallett III
Burial Site: Find a Grave