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<p><em>Guy Kent Troy</em> was born in March 1923 to the union of Thaddeus S. Troy and Sarah H. “Hattie” Williamson. Thaddeus was a World War I veteran and a medical officer who had just begun work at a veterans hospital. Guy’s military future was assured, as he was born at Walter Reed Army Hospital and the doctor that delivered him later became the surgeon general of the Army.</p>
<p>When Guy’s father was transferred to the veterans hospital in Fayetteville, AR, Guy attended the Missouri Military Academy, where he learned to study. He lettered in wrestling and was also on the swimming and track teams. He adapted easily to military life and finished high in his class academically. Guy’s family returned to St. Petersburg, FL, and Guy went on to junior college at Mirror Lake, which had a dance cotillion. It was during this time that he learned to dance and danced at every opportunity. </p>
<p>As international tensions developed overseas, Guy signed up for a government-sponsored flying club that encouraged people to join the Army Air Corps. He earned his private pilot’s license in the spring of 1942 as part of the club’s curriculum and signed up for the Army Air Corps in August that same year. He got a job in the local haberdashery and was finally called up in February 1943. Guy continued to train, even after he received his appointment to West Point, and entered the Academy on July 1, 1943.</p>
<p>Cadet Troy loved sports. When he was told he was too small to play football, he tried out for lacrosse. He fell in love with the sport and played all three years, earning his letter his firstie year in the Army-Navy game. Having a love for dancing, Guy was the president of the Hop Committee and was able to secure the Glenn Miller Band for the Graduation Hop (he would often say that future classes were probably paying for this extravaganza). He demonstrated his ability to lead and culminated his cadet time as the B-2 company commander. </p>
<p>Guy found his love in the Cavalry and happened to be the last in his class to draw Armor. After almost a full year of the Armor Officer Basic Course and Airborne School, Guy set out on his initial assignment in Germany with the constabulary in 1947. His duties were to control displaced persons. On one occasion he helped transition the currency from the German Reichsmark to the Deutsch Mark. </p>
<p>As the executive officer of the headquarters troop in Munich, Guy learned of the Modern Pentathlon Olympic Team from his troop commander, who had competed in the 1948 Olympics, and upon returning to the U.S. applied for the team. Since the Korean War had just started, there was no team. Once back in the U.S., Guy took on the task to recruit, train and develop the team. He trained at West Point and competed against the local teams and took the team to Argentina, where they won a gold medal in the first Pan American Games. He then went on to compete in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. </p>
<p>After the Olympics, Guy met and married Winifred “Wynne” Charles Price and together returned to Europe, where Guy would be a company commander in the 29th Tank Battalion. Upon his return to the U.S., Guy was the assistant professor of military science at NMMI in Roswell, NM, where he also coached the swim team to a state championship title.</p>
<p>In 1960 Guy was assigned to a one-year unaccompanied tour with the Military Assistance Group, Iran as the Armor advisor, and upon his return he attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS, with a follow-on assignment teaching in the Department of Armor Operations and Counterinsurgency Operations.</p>
<p>In 1964, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and was selected to command the 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry with the task to train the unit to deploy to Vietnam. Guy subsequently went on to serve in Vietnam as the G-2 for the 25th Infantry Division. </p>
<p>Guy would return to the U.S. and was assigned as the chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Alternate National Military Command Center at Fort Ritchie, MD, where he also earned his master’s degree in business administration from Shippensburg State College. In 1972, Guy took a rewarding assignment as the defense attaché in Vienna, Austria. He represented the U.S. at the 400th anniversary of the Spanish Riding School and hosted retired General and Mrs. Mark Clark on a historic return trip to Austria.</p>
<p>Retiring from the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, NC in 1976, Guy returned to the family farm near Liberty, NC, where he and Wynne built their house. They established Woodlot Management (a farm equipment sales company) and Troy Farms Inc. to manage the farm. </p>
<p>Guy continued to live the values of West Point and was always happy to share his experiences. He was the oldest grad at many of the local Founders Day celebrations and served as the president of the Class of 1946, leading them at their 75th Class Reunion. </p>
<p>Two days after turning 100 years old and three days after meeting his four-month-old great-granddaughter, Guy joined Wynne, who passed away in 2009, and fellow classmates in eternal life. He often prayed the Cadet Prayer and lived his life accordingly. Let it be said, “Well Done.”</p>
<p><em>— G. Kent Troy (USMA 1981)</em></p>
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