Raymond Halloran

Raymond F. (Hap) Halloran Was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on February 4, 1922 the second of five boys to Paul and Gertrude Halloran. He died on June 7 at the age of 89 after a long and extraordinary life. In Cincinnati, Hap developed an early fascination for airplanes and after Pearl Harbor, joined the Army Air Force. He shipped out to the Pacific Theater in 1944 as a B-29 navigator. In a memoir published in 1999 Hap tells his remarkable wartime story: Shot out of the sky over Tokyo, stalked by a Zero pilot as he fell in his parachute, and spared by that pilot; taken to the dreaded Kempei Tai prison and beaten, tortured and starved; an inspiration to his fellow prisoners who would become friends-for-life, including Colonel Pappy Boyington and Brigadier General Robert Goldsworthy. Hap was liberated on August 29, 1945 and began a lifelong journey that saw him become the most prominent US veteran in Japan. [See www.haphalloran.com for more detail.] After the war Hap returned to his hometown, recovered from his wartime injuries and went to work for the Rock Island Railroad. He met Donna Carolyn Peterman and they were married in 1953. In 1958 Hap joined Consolidated Freightways (CF), the company that he would help to build into one of the great transportation companies in the country. In 1973 he was named executive vice president and became the company's top sales and marketing officer. He retired from CF in 1987. After the war and throughout his remarkable business career Hap battled the nightmares of post-traumatic stress disorder. After 40 years of this, he decided to attack PTSD head-on. He asked for help from US Ambassador Mike Mansfield and made the first of many "reconciliation" trips to Japan, to what soon turned out to be great Japanese media attention and national acclaim. After a few years he had met the pilot who shot him down and counted as close friends and correspondents, Japanese historians, artists, school teachers, war veterans and fighter pilots. Throughout the US, Hap also spread his message of closure - perseverance, forgiveness, reconciliation and peace. He spoke to large military gatherings and convocations of veterans including his own beloved B-29ers, as well as local business groups, civic organizations and schools. National media came to him for perspective and memories. He traveled with CBS-TV to Tokyo in 1995 for a special on the 50th anniversary of the end of WWII and in that year alone did 30 TV interviews and appeared in 12 documentaries on the war. Hap delivered old friend Pappy Boyington's eulogy at Arlington National Cemetery on January 15, 1988. Hap has received countless awards from military and civic organizations. In 2001, along with former President George H.W. Bush, he was inducted into the American Combat Airman Hall of Fame. At the time of his death Hap was being cared for by the staff at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Menlo Park. Hap is survived by his immediate family, sons Dan and Tim and daughter Peggy. Their mother Donna died in 1991. The family suggests memorial donations may be made in the name of Raymond Halloran to VA Volunteer Services Fund #135 [GPS2365], 759 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025. Menlo Park Funeral Services (650-329-8022) is handling funeral arrangements. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Raymond Church in Menlo Park on Friday June 17 at noon with a reception at the parish following the liturgy. Hap will be interred later this year in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.