TAMPA, Fla. — Matthew Hall knows what it is like to feel lost after serving in the U.S. military.
He deployed to Iraq at the age of 21.
Hall was a machine-gunner in a Bradley fighting vehicle. He struggled when he returned home.
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When he returned home, the 37-year-old says, “I had a real difficult transition, getting into fights, getting into trouble. And it was the VFW... that helped me deal with those feelings of isolation.”
So now he’s “paying back” for the assistance he received.
Hall is a lawyer who handles commercial litigation for Hill Ward Henderson.
His side-gig is using his legal knowledge to help other former military members struggling with civilian life. And he does it all for free.
“It makes life better, you know?” Hall says.
When officials threatened to shutdown Tampa’s VFW Post 4321, which has supported veterans for more than 70 years, over a liquor permit snafu, Hall and Hill Ward Henderson handled the case pro bono.
Friend and VFW 4321 trustee Pat Crenshaw says without Hall, “We’d be closed.”
Hall studied law at the University of Florida. When he found out the law school there did not offer a scholarship for veterans, he started one.
Because that is what he does.
“Our first three [scholarship] recipients were all combat veterans,” Hall says, once again looking out for his own.
