THE WALL OF FACES

If I should die, and leave you here awhile, be not like others, sore undone, who keep long vigils by the silent dust, and weep..;.for MY sake, turn again to life, and smile...Nerving thy heart, and trembling hand to do something to comfort other hearts than thine...Complete these dear, unfinished tasks of mine...and I, perchance, may therein comfort you.

those brief little clues and insights you gave to

After 42 years I am finally able to express my sincere sympathy to those who loved and respected Bob Toal as I did. During the summer of 1956 we served together as leaders of a provisional troop at the Scout Camp Delmont in Eastern Pennsylvania. He was a man of outstanding character and leadership ability.



 

Valley Forge Military Academy and College
Junior College Graduates 1956

Alonzo Robert Toal
President of the Junior College Classes

Alonzo Robert Toal-----Band Captain
Havertown, Pa.--------Class President

Order of Anthony Wayne - JCS
Anthony Wayne Legion Guard - JCF, JCS
Phi Theta Kappa Society - JCF, JCS (President)
Stephen Foster Society - JCF, JCS (Chaplain)
Patrick Henry Society - JCF
Major General Anthony Wayne Medal - JCS
Saunders Medal - JCF
Dunaway Debate - JCF
Crossed Sabres - JCS (Junior College Editor)
Intermural Volleyball - JCF, JCS
Intramural Basketball - JCF, JCS
Intermural Softball - JCF, JCS

Thanks to Bill Hoblin, Director of Alumni Relations, VFMA,
and Bill Smith, Class of 71.

Viet Ambush Claims Life of Jurist's Son

Army Major A. Robert Toal, son of the late Delaware County Court Judge William R. Toal, was killed Saturday night in an ambush while riding in a jeep in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam.
Major Toal, who lived with his wife and young son at the Regency Apartments, Creek rd., St. Davids (PA), had been in Vietnam since last August, serving as an advisor to a South Vietnamese Army unit.

AIDE AT COLLEGE

For two years starting in 1965, he was assigned to the ROTC detachment at his alma mater, Valley Forge Military Academy.
To show the Academy's 1200 students how the war in Vietnam was being fought, he slid down a rope from a helicopter to the 'battlefield" during the academy "Warfare Weekend" in 1966.
Major Toal, 31, attended Haverford High School. He was a 1956 graduate of the Valley Forge Military Junior College and was captain of the Valley Forge Band.

COMMANDED ROTC

At Bucknell University, he was student commander of the ROTC. He was graduated in 1958 with a bachelor's degree in political science.
Major Toal received a direct commission in the Army. He served at Fort Benning, Ga.; Korea, 13 months; Fort Lewis, Wash. and Berlin for three years.
The Major had been an Eagle Scout and became the leader of a scout troop in Berlin. He also met his wife there and he and the former Annette Scholer were married in 1964.

LEARNS LANGUAGE

Major Toal returned to Fort Benning for special training, including the Vietnamese language. He left for Vietnam on August 28, 1967.
In his letters home, the Major said the war was "difficult but worthwhile" and said the Army unit he was assigned to was "making good progress." The Major added that he was kept very busy and was "always proud of being in service for my country."
Besides his wife, Major Toal is survived by his 15-month-old son, Thomas Robert; his mother, Mrs. Gertrude G. Toal; and two brothers, William R.Jr., and John H. His father died in 1965 after serving as a Delaware County Common Pleas court judge for 17 years.

Photo and article appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer on January 8, 1968.