KIMBERLY, Wis. — Each year. Outagamie County honors a veteran who has made the ultimate sacrifice.

This year the county is honoring Dominic Hall, a decorated Marine Corps veteran and Appleton police officer who died in 2022.

What You Need To Know

  • Public service was the pillar of Dominic Hall’s life. He joined the Marine Corps shortly after graduating from high school. Two tours in Afghanistan and nine years later, he was sworn in as an Appleton police officer in 2017

  • Dominic Hall served five years with the Appleton Police Department, becoming an investigator and SWAT team member

  • In 2021, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer; the cancer was caused by exposure to toxic burn pits while serving in the military. Dominic Hall died on Sept. 4, 2022. He was 33

  • Kelly Bales with Outagamie County Veterans’ Services said the county is honoring Dominic Hall’s life of military and law enforcement service with a bench, located at the corner of Green Way Drive and Parkway Drive. It’s near the intersection of Highway CE and Debruin Road

Public service was the pillar of Dominic Hall’s life. He joined the Marine Corps shortly after graduating from high school. Two tours in Afghanistan and nine years later, he was sworn in as an Appleton police officer in 2017.

Dominic Hall’s widow, Jacole Hall, said her husband always put the well-being of others first.

“Dominic was absolutely born to protect and serve. He just had that quality within him that he knew that if there was somebody in trouble or something that needed to be fixed or someone needed help, he was the first one there,” Jacole Hall said.

Dominic Hall served five years with the Appleton Police Department, becoming an investigator and SWAT team member. 

In 2021, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer; the cancer was caused by exposure to toxic burn pits while serving in the military. Dominic Hall died on Sept. 4, 2022. He was 33. 

Kelly Bales with Outagamie County Veterans’ Services said the county is honoring Dominic Hall’s life of military and law enforcement service with a bench, located at the corner of Green Way Drive and Parkway Drive. It’s near the intersection of Highway CE and Debruin Road.

“Just a great, special forces individual, a lot of extensive training to include parachuting, which is pretty awesome, special warfare training and then served over in Afghanistan on two separate tours and earned the Brown Star, which is one of the highest medals you can earn United States military. What an amazing way to keep him alive in their hearts,” Bales said.

Not only does this bench hold a special meaning for the community, but it also holds a special place in the hearts of Dominic Halls’s two sons, Victor and Thorin. 

Jacole Hall said they’re too young to remember their dad, but now they will always have a special place to keep his memory alive.

“Every morning, we’re able to drive by the bench. My boys — now 6 and 4 — Victor and Thorin, are already so excited to just be able to say, ‘Good morning, Daddy Bench,’ because they don’t get to say, ‘Good morning, Daddy,’” Jacole Hall said.

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