Charles Hall was a soldier from Lawrence County, one of over 70,000 men from Arkansas who served during World War 1. Hall was born on March 10, 1896 in Lauratown. He enlisted while living in Walnut Ridge, on July 22, 1918.
Hall's unit was deployed to France where he was gassed. The experience left him deeply traumatized. In August 1921, for reasons unknown, he flew into a rage and beat a young boy, Spivey Leonard, with a stove-lid lifter. Leonard suffered five fractures on his skull and was taken to hospital in Jonesboro. The prognosis was poor, but his ultimate fate is unknown.1
Hall was jailed in Walnut Ridge before being confined to the Hospital for Nervous Diseases in Little Rock. Some time in late April 1922, he managed to escape and made his way back to his father's house in Powhatan, where he was captured on March 4 and taken back to Little Rock.2 His ultimate fate is unknown.
Sources:
1. "Boy Injured by Crazed Soldier." Arkansas Democrat. August 13, 1921. p.7. Charley_Hall_injures_boy__8_13_1921.pdf
2. "Insane Serviceman Captured." March 4, 1922. p.2. This article claims that Leonard is Hall's step-brother, which no other contemporary source corroborates. Charley_Hall_captured_at_Powhatan__3_4_1922.pdf
