Menlo Park's Hap Halloran, bombardier and POW

It's always so easy to start a war, but even after it ends, it doesn't.

Thank you to our "greatest generation." We are losing them at an alarming rate. To be expected given their age, but we can never thank them enough for our freedom.

Hap had my deepest respect, as an employer and friend.

Ray was a man with a good heart, may he rest in peace.

I have sweet memories of my Uncle Ray. He would play with my brother & myself when he and my Aunt Donna would visit Oregon, IL. He would take us to the park to see the statue of Chief Blackhawk. I remember visiting them in Indiana; he took me to a toy store & told me to get whatever I wanted! I did...my Mom made us return it for something smaller! He was the perfect host when we visited his family in Portland, Oregon. Other than letters over the past 10-15 years, the last time I really got to talk with him was at my Grama's ( he thought she was a "true lady") funeral. Up until the past year or so, Uncle Ray called my Mom, his sister-in-law, a few times a year to chat! I really came to understand him more as his life became known through the telling of his experiences in World War 2. Uncle, Irish, one of my heroes. I believe he will rest in peace with his Lord.

I was lucky enough to work with Mr Hap Halloran. I made the mistake of introducing him by incorrectly stating his position in the company (Consolidated Freightways) - for which I was rebuked. But I learned much from this great man. I especially learned a lot about personal "fear" which Ray knew a lot about. I also made the best sales call of my life with him in Anaheim CA. I'll never forget Ray and I'm glad I told him that before he passed. A great veteran, US Soldier, and great leader has departed and the world is beter off because of him and I am better off for knowing him.

Ray was a man that expected you to be at your best in your job as a representative of Consolidated Freightways. He was a great sales
motivator who was always at his best in front of our customers. I learned alot from Ray and consider it an honor to have had him as a friend. He was a brave and honorable man.

I was fortunate enough to office next to Ray at the Consolidated Freightways headquarters in Menlo Park for a couple years in the late 90's. "Hap" was a great mentor in both business and life to many employees and friends, a true American hero who will be studied by many young people in years to come through his website and autobiography. It was an honor to experience time with such an honest and genuine person. May he rest in peace and continue to lead us in difficult times.

I knew Hap for about 30 years, as a customer but more importantly as a friend. He was always helpful, generous, and a good friend. I often felt sorry for the CF guys from who he always expected 150+% effort for complete customer satisfaction, but as a customer I appreciated what he and his guys accomplished for us. The customer was Number One, and he made sure his team knew that.

Ray, a POW in Japan for the last 8 months of World War Two, also helped many veterans (and their families) heal from their own POW experiences. Few, if any, were as harrowing and as close-to-death as his. But he showed many the way out of their nightmares, a way to put the past behind, when he reconciled with the demons of his own past visiting the prison site and meeting with a former prison guard who helped him survive - they remained friends until parted by death. During Gulf War One Ray was on TV sharing his experiences, helping folks here at home understand, in one vivid example, what one particular captured (and obviously beaten and under duress) pilot was going through in Iraq as he "apologized" on camera for bombing "the peaceful people of Iraq".

If you haven't already, you should read his book, "Hap's War", and make sure your kids and their kids read it as well. Hap always said he wasn't a hero, that the real heroes never got to come home. But read this and you'll know why he will always be one of my heroes.

Ray Halloran was one of a kind, and we who knew him are lucky to have shared a few moments on this earth with him.

I, too, was fortunate to meet and know Mr. Halloran (who insisted I call him 'Hap').It was my great honor to frame some of his incredible photos, from WWII. Like many 'Baby Boomers' I knew little of the human cost of war, until Vietnam, and only of the boys my age. Hap brought WWII into prospective, for me, and I will be forever grateful. His bravery continued, throughout his life, in my opinion, as he endured those nightmares, but continued to move forward with a full life, and even took the necessary steps of returning to the place he was tortured; writing about his experiences and sharing his life, after the war, with other vets, to encourage them. A Hero, to the end. R.I.P., Hap

You will be greatly missed! I'm fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet such a dear man!

too many memories...so to focus on one: hap had made sales calls all week with me in Portland, OR. On the way to the airport to get him back to Menlo, he asked if we could visit the cemetery where he wanted to pay respects to one of the airmen killed in his B-29 over Tokyo. The weather that day was over 100 degrees...when we found the grave site, I left Hap alone and walked 100 yards away......when I turned back to look at him, he was on his hands and knees, pulling weeds and cleaning up around the grave, tears rolling from his eyes.....all the while in his dark suit.....
as Mils Davis said in his famous "Sketches of Spain" record,
Hap was "the arrow that pierces the heart of the song"

I met Hap in 2005 at he Saipan Liberation Day Fiesta on SaipanNMI. I soon discovered what a warm and caring individual he was. He gave me a copy of " Hap's War, and I reciprocated by painting a picture of his B 29 on a T shirt. Hap became a member of our family, and we stayed in touch by email after he returned to California. I was always amazed by his generosity and the great spirit of forgiveness that he displayed and shared with those around him. He was a remarkable human being!

Having retired from the same company as Hap (Consolidated Freightways) but never got to meet him! I spent my career with the company at the Tampa ,Florida location. As a WW II history buff, I knew all about what Hap and Greg (pappy) Boyington endured while prisioners of war in Japan. As a Marine during the Vietnam war, I'm just deeply touched at the courage Hap showed during those months as a POW and the troubling times that followed him home! Where do we find such Americans as these?

Rest in Peace Sir

Ron Calub Florida