Local resident in hall of fame

Klaus Halm

of Swanson Ridge in Peachtree City was inducted into the

first-ever U.S. Army Public Affairs Hall of Fame during a

recent ceremony at in McLean, Va.

The Hall of

Fame was established to honor both military and civilian

Army public affairs professionals who made significant

and lasting contributions to the career field. A panel of

six judges chose 15 inductees from a field of 36

nominations.

ABC News

chief White House correspondent and former Army

journalist Sam Donaldson was the keynote speaker for the

ceremony.

Born in

Germany, Halm, 71, fled the Nazi regime in the 1930s and

was drafted into the Army in 1954 while in the midst of

doctoral studies at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. He

spent his two years of active duty as a military

journalist at Fort McPherson in Atlanta, then made the

transition to become a Department of the Army civilian in

the public affairs field.

In 1965,

Halm became the chief of the press section for Third Army

public affairs. One of his biggest challenges was to

manage media coverage of the My Lai massacre trial at

Fort McPherson. His suggestion to open the trial to the

media helped soften media criticism of the Army during

the trial, and has set the standard for how the Army

operates its media relations programs.

In 1972,

Halm reorganized the Third Army public affairs office,

creating one of the first public affairs plans and an

operational side to public affairs. He also did much to

integrate active and reserve public affairs, creating

more than 80 public affairs units throughout the command.

Before his

retirement from civil service in 1991, Halm became the

deputy public affairs officer for Forces Command

headquarters, also at Fort McPherson.