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.

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