Robert Foley was born and raised in Newton, MA. He moved to Belmont in middle school where he was nicknamed "Stretch". At 6'5"tall, he was encouraged to switch from hockey to basketball, which he played throughout his middle and high school careers. Foley graduated from Belmont High School in 1959.
General Foley graduated in 1963 from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was a company commander during the Vietnam War, a battalion and brigade commander with the 3rd Infantry Division in Germany, assistant division commander, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea, West Point's commandant of cadets, and commanding general, Fifth US Army.
On May 1, 1968, Captain Foley was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Lyndon B. Johnson "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with Company A, 2d Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, in action against enemy aggressor forces at Quan Dau Tieng, Republic of Vietnam, on 5 November 1966." Click here for more information on Captain Foley's Medal of Honor Citation.
After retiring from the U.S. Army in 2000, General Foley served as president of Marion Military Institute (MMI) in Marion Alabama, until his resignation at the end of the 2003-2004 academic year. In 2005, General Foley became the eighth director of Army Emergency Relief.
In 2022, General Foley published Standing Tall: Leadership Lessons in the Life of a Soldier. In this memoir, General Foley shares how he became a warrior, from his time as a new cadet to his experience commanding men in combat.
The video below is a special edition of Alumni and Friends of BHS (produced by Belmont Media Center). In this edition, Angelo Firenze (Class of '60), along with Sue Martin (Class of '59) and Col. Mike Callanan (Class of '88 and Co-Chairman of the Belmont Veterans Memorial Committee) interview Lt. General Robert Foley (Class of '59) about his experiences at Belmont High School and in the service.
Click here to view this video on the Belmont Media Center website.