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<em>Roy Lindquist</em> was born in West Newton, Massachusetts on 18 February 1907, the first of three sons to Ernest and Anna Lindquist. During his secondary school years he attended Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield, Maine, preparatory to his application for entrance to the US Military Academy, and simultaneously joined the Maine National Guard, furthering his aspirations for a military profession. It was during these years that he met his beloved Alice, the former Alice Murch, who one day would become that supportive half of the Roy and Alice team which spanned the full breadth of a long, rewarding and successful career.</p>
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Roy was appointed to West Point in 1926. Throughout his cadet days, “Link,” as he was best known to his classmates, distinguished himself as notably on the athletic field as in the ranks of leadership. His accomplishments in baseball and his captaincy of the hockey team attest to that ability. His competitive interests did in fact continue for many years thereafter, with numerous unit team coaching assignments. Roy was graduated with the Class of 1930, commissioned in the Infantry, and first assigned to Fort Williams, Portland, Maine. He and Alice were married in December of that year, marking the beginning of an enviable marriage in which they each contributed so much to the enrichment of the other.</p>
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After a succession of Infantry assignments during the ensuing years, Roy joined the fledgling 501st Parachute Battalion at Fort Benning, Georgia in 1940, one of the first of the Airborne “pioneers.” In 1942, he activated the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and as its commander, led the “Red Devils” in the European Theater, with combat jumps in Normandy and Holland and further participation in the Battle of the Bulge. His many awards include the Legion of Merit, Silver Star, Purple Heart, Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the French Croix de Guerre, the Netherlands Bronze Lion, as well as numerous other foreign unit citations; a testimony not only to the gallantry of the men of his command, but to his own professionalism and exemplary leadership qualities which he so illustriously manifested throughout his service. Roy and his command were singularly honored in their selection as honor guard to General Dwight Eisenhower’s Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces in Frankfurt, Germany, June 1945.</p>
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Postwar assignments thereafter included that of chief of the Airborne Department of the Infantry School, the Joint US Military Aid Group, Greece during the Greek Guerilla War, and attendance at the National War College in 1950-51. His promotion to general officer led to command of the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team in Japan in 1953, and subsequently to command of the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, when he was tasked with the reorganization and training of the division in preparation for permanent relocation to Germany under the new “Gyroscope” concept, theretofore an unprecedented major unit rotation maneuver.</p>
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Roy’s last active duty assignment was that of chief of the Military Mission and Assistance Advisory Group in Iran in 1958. He retired of his own application on 30 June 1960 in Washington, DC, with award of the Distinguished Service Medal.</p>
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Possessed of an energy and capacity for living as befits the young at heart, Roy continued as vigorously in retirement as on active duty. As a business consultant with a Washington firm, then as a representative from the Office of Secretary of Defense evaluating Foreign Aid Assistance Programs, the opportunity for extensive travel allowed Alice and him to combine pleasure with the business at hand. And although the “fields of friendly strife” were behind him, Roy could still be found on the golf course whenever possible, continuing a lifelong propensity for a game that was a good match for anyone.</p>
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Roy will always be remembered and respected by his many friends and colleagues as a man of high moral standards. He was every bit a soldier’s soldier, more at home with the troops on line than in any other duty capacity. He inspired a fierce sense of pride, esprit, and of belonging within all who were fortunate to have served with him. This heritage of DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY, when deeply instilled, manifests itself throughout every facet of one’s life, both professional and personal. This was perhaps Roy’s greatest legacy and is most beautifully illustrated in the memorial dedication in his honor at the US Military Academy Library by the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment Association, with an accompanying donation to the Academy Education Fund in his name—their tribute to their fallen leader.</p>
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Roy succumbed to complications associated with Alzheimer’s disease on 19 November 1986 in St. Petersburg, Florida, where Alice continues to reside. He is also survived by their two sons, Roy, Jr. (USMA Class of 1956) and Robert (USMA Class of 1958); six grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.</p>
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The frailties of illness in his later years are diminished by the loving memory of his dynamic personality, his love of family, and his service to Country to which he was so devoted. Let it be said “Well Done.”</p>
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<em>R.E.L</em></p>