|
Gen. Roy Lindquist, led Iran mission
By Craig Basse St. Petersburg Times Obituary
Editor
Maj. Gen. Roy E. Lindquist, whose last assignment was as chief
to the military mission to the late shah of Iran, died Wednesday (Nov. 19, 1986) at Bay Point Nursling Pavilion in St. Petersburg of complications associated with Alzheimer's disease. He was 79.
Beginning in 1958, he served in Iran for two years, leading an American effort to strengthen the Iranian Army and the authority of
the shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi;
In 1980, with the shah dead and Iran in the hands of revolutionaries, Gen. Lindquist showed a reporter who visited his retirement condominium at 5108 Brittany
Drive S. framed photos of himself and the shah.
"He consulted with me many times personally, "the general said:
The Iranian assignment was his last in a military career of 36 years. He said up to 200 Americans served under him as the Iranian training project expanded.
"We had a club," he recalled, "We had a nice little home with a swimming pool and a fence around it. And the shah's wife (Empress Farah) that he married at the time lived right around the corner."
His Iranian service took second place in his military recollections to his command of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, the "Red Devils" who formed in 1942 at Camp Blanding, near Jacksonville.
With other parachute units, the 508th dropped behind German lines
during the Normandy invasion. Casualties were heavy. Gen. Lindquist once
said that more than half of the unit's 2,056 officers and men |
were killed, wounded or declared missing in that operation.
"I am so proud of them," the general said in a 1978 interview.
"My service with the 508th was the highlight of my career. They were the best. I don't want people to forget about them, or about D-Day."
Gen. Lindquist, born in West Newton, Mass., enlisted in the Maine National Guard in 1924 to begin his military career. Two years later, with the rank of sergeant, he entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1930.
After World War II, he was assistant commandant of the U.S. Airborne School, a member of the Joint U.S. Military Air Group to Greece and chief of staff and deputy commanding general of the U.S. IX Corps, Far East Command.
He retired in 1960 and moved here in 1971 from Washington, D.C.
His decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Silver Star, Bronze Star with two oak leaf clusters, Purple Heart, Croix De Guerre with palm from France, Bronze Lion from The Netherlands, Greek Order of the Phoenix, and Iranian Crown Decoration.
Survivors include his wife Alice M.; two sons, Roy Jr., Marina, Calif., and Robert E., Lavonia, Ga.; two brothers, Norman, Yarmouth, Maine, and Elmer, York, Maine; and six grandchildren.
A funeral and burial will be at West Point. Beach Memorial Chapel, 301 Corey Ave., St. Petersburg Beach, is in charge of local arrangements.
--- Soma of the Information In this obituary came from stories by Judy Hill and Richard Koenig in the St Petersburg Times.
[Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg, Fl, 20 Nov 1986, Thu, Page 55] |
 Roy Ernest
Lindquist [1907 - 1986], commanded the 508th from its
inception and throughout WW-II
until December 1945 when he transferred command to Lt. Col. Otho Holmes.
Maj. Gen. Lindquist, a member of the USMA Class of 1936, is
buried on the grounds of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, NY
along with his wife, Alice.
(Photo courtesy Bronwyn Ruddy, USMA Class of 2000) |
