Robert "Doc" Michael Halliday

On January 15th, 1950 a hero was born in Niagara Falls New York to Richard James Halliday and Sarah (McLaughin) Halliday, but the world wouldn't find out about it until 19 years later. That's when Sergeant Robert “Doc” Halliday, in the middle of a firefight in South Vietnam during February of 1969, charged into a burning tank 4 times with ammunition exploding all around him and pulled 4 wounded men out of a hell-hole that would have meant certain death. And that was just his first Silver Star. Doc, a graduate of La Salle High School in Niagara Falls class of 1968, would go on to earn another Silver Star and 3 Purple hearts during the next 4 years on the front lines in Vietnam. He earned his Combat Infantryman's Badge, his crossed sabers, his helicopter door gunner badge, and his armor badge during 4 consecutive tours of duty in Southeast Asia. He never asked for relief or quarter. There was a job to do and he, in the glorious tradition of the U.S. Military since 1776, just did it.

After his time in South Vietnam he decided to make the military his career and went on to earn his Pathfinder Badge, 2 Bronze Stars, and a Meritorious Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit, among many other awards and accolades. After the war, his job was to grow and train soldiers, and he embraced that role with the same devotion he showed while he was protecting his troops in South Vietnam. He took the young, scared, confused troops assigned to him, and even those like me who were not in his unit, and helped us to grow into our role as the next generation of America's defenders.

After he retired from the Army in 1990, as a Master Sergeant, he continued his service to his community with the Liberty County Sheriffs Office, retiring again in 2011.

Doc loved his family, his country, the Army, and motorcycles. His legacy lives on in the hundreds of lives he touched, his wife, his family and his friends. Doc passed from this world on Veteran's Day, 2021. He picked his day, and he couldn't have picked a better one. Doc was proceeded in death by his parents Richard and Sarah. He leaves behind Sherry, his beloved wife of 39 years, his children Shannon (Halliday) Hayes, Ashley Halliday, and Elsa Halliday, his grand children Morgan, Analynn and Robert, his Brothers Jim, Thomas and George, his sister Mary, and an entire host of men and women who called him brother.

 Memorial services for Robert “Doc” Halliday will take place on December 3rd from 12:00 – 2:00 at the Richmond Hill funeral home. From there, the bikes will ride one last time for Doc as they escort him to his final resting place at the Glennville Veterans Memorial Cemetery.