Adventures in My Home Town

The central character of the book is Ralph Hall. Ralph grew up on a small farm, and after getting in trouble at high school, he runs away from home and enlists in the Army at age 15. He then is sent to help chase Pancho Villa down during a border dispute with Mexico. He returns to Fort Riley, Kansas, and is sent overseas with the 18th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Army Division: the Big Red One. He contracts the Spanish Flu while on the ship going to France but survives. He then is wounded prior to the 18th Infantry's first major engagement at Cantigny, becoming the 1st casualty of L Company of that regiment in the war. After recovering from his wound, he participates in all the major trench and field battles that the 18th Infantry fought: Cantigny, Soissons, the second Battle of the Marne, Saint Mihiel, and the1st and 2nd Battles in the Argonne forest. He is one of 16 survivors of L company, that started the war with 250 men.

This book details Ralph's wartime experiences and his subsequent return to the United States. He details his boot camp and fighting experiences through a detailed eye-witness recollection that was recorded near the end of his life. He survived the war and returns to Missouri to work on the family farm. He later marries and begins to raise a family.

This book tells many of his family's stories.

From daring parachuting stunts to harrowing spelunking exploits, “Adventures in My Home Town” details the roller coaster ride of life inside Ralph’s large family that lived in a small Missouri town. The Hall home, being only 1000 square feet, held nine children, Ralph and Edna (the parents), pets and possessions; this tight living arrangement created many comical situations.

Besides the many humorous tales of family life, poignant stories of loss and tragedy are told.