101
Brigadier General USA Retired
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DUNCAN HALLOCK,
101 - Brigadier General USA Ret.
LAKELAND - "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away." On April 20, 2013, having lived a rich, full life and serving his country with a distinguished military career, Brigadier General Duncan Hallock, USA Ret. 101, went home to be with the Lord. He was born in Saint Louis, Missouri to Sybil & Ross C.H. Hallock on July 12, 1911. In his boyhood he was a mixture of scholar and outdoor boy, curled up with DeMaupassant or Einstein on rainy afternoons or playing tennis on sunny ones. His lifelong love of tennis began on the backyard court his father built for him and his brother, which also attracted a number of neighborhood boys. His home was headquarters for scouting activities. Somewhere in his scouting activity and a family trip to West Point, the ambition to attend the U.S. Military Academy (USMA) was planted and the Idea grew to fulfillment. In June 1929 he won an appointment to the academy. He excelled academically. In his senior year he ran the "Tenth Squad" in the basement of the barracks, helping varsity football players get through their math and science courses to remain eligible. He graduated as a Distinguished Graduate in the Class of 1933 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Engineering and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. Prior to the Second World War, Gen. Hallock served as the Assistant District Engineer in Rock Island, Illinois; obtained an MS in Engineering from Cornell University in 1946; spent a year at the Engineer School in 1937, two years as a company officer in the 11th Engineer Regiment in the Panama Canal Zone 1937-1939; and two years as an ROTC instructor at the University of Tennessee 1939-1941. During World War II he saw service in both the European and Pacific Theaters in command of different combat engineer units. At the end of World War II, having advanced to the rank of colonel, he was assigned to the Research & Development Division of the Army General Staff. From there he spent one year at the Army War College before being transferred to France. From 1952 to 1954 he was the District Engineer for the Port District of the Joint Construction Agency in Europe, then served one year as the Executive Officer in the JCA Central Office in Paris. Upon his return to the U.S. in 1955 he was assigned as the engineer for the Third Army at Fort McPherson, Georgia, but this assignment was interrupted after less than a year by the sudden creation of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency under the command of Maj. Gen. John B. Medaris. Working with Dr. Wernher Von Braun and his team of scientists, Col. Hallock was in the blockhouse of Launch Complex 26 on Jan. 31, 1958 when the US Army launched the United States' first satellite, Explorer I. Additional satellites were launched in 1958 and in July of that year ABMA was dissolved and its facilities and programs absorbed into the National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA). Following the dissolution of ABMA, Gen. Hallock was transferred to Washington, DC as the chief of the Research & Development Division of the office of the Chief of Engineers. In 1958 he was promoted to Brigadier General and in 1960 he was assigned as the engineer for the US Eighth Army in Seoul, Korea. In 1961 General Hallock was assigned as the engineer for the United States Armies Pacific at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, where he served until he retired in 1963. Gen. Hallock's decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Army Commendation Ribbon with Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Korean ULchi with Gold Star. Following his retirement from the Army in 1964, Gen. Hallock began a second career as a vice president for International Telephone & Telegraph, Philippines, living in Manila until he retired to Honolulu, Hawaii in 1974. In retirement he continued his lifelong passion for tennis and travel. He valued the many friends he had made in the Army and with ITT and continued to enjoy his relationships with members of the Class of 1933, and his colleagues at ITT. In February 2003, due to the poor health of his wife Barbara, they were compelled to leave Hawaii and moved into the Carpenter's Estates in Lakeland, Florida. Gen. Hallock was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Barbara Jenkins Hallock, his daughter, Barbara Alice Hallock, his son David D. Hallock, and his brother, Houghton R. Hallock, also a graduate of USMA (1937). He is survived by his son Bruce E. Hallock (Sheryl) of Broomfield. CO; his daughter-in-law Harriett Hallock, Bartow, FL; his stepsons Charles H. Waters (Sandy), Houston, TX; and, Kevin Waters (Iris), Cary, NC; and his two stepdaughters Mary Hilleary Waters (Rory Seeber), Denver, CO, and Brook Ballantyne (Blaine), Cary, NC; 14 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. Gen. Hallock lived his entire life guided by three principals: Duty, Honor and Country. We are the better for it and blessed by the legacy he left us. Interment will be at the United States Military Academy cemetery at West Point, New York, on June 7, 2013. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in memory of Brig. Gen. Duncan Hallock (1933), Association of Graduates the Long Gray Line, 845-446-1685, www.westpoint.org . The Ledger, Wed.
April 24, 2013
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