GENTLE GIANT OF A GENERAL

Even after several years of chance encounters with Ted Crichton, a sit-down breakfast at Herbie’s Place, and a morning-long visit in his beautiful Lake Jeanette home, I feel inadequate to write about this former enlisted man who rose to brigadier general during a 35-year military career.

I'VE NEVER MET A FRIENDLIER GENERAL THAN TED CRICHTON

His two older brothers were in the thick of World War II, but the end was in sight by the time he turned 17 and joined the Army Air Forces in 1945.  “I had wanted to fly since I was a kid making airplane models in Wilmington, Delaware.  I had high hopes of becoming an aviation cadet -- my timing wasn’t the best – they made me an aircraft mechanic.”

However, his timing for appointment to the U.S. Military Academy couldn’t have been better.  “I graduated from West Point in 1950, received my U.S. Air Force wings in 1951, and remained on flying status for 30 years.”

CRICHTON RAN TRACK AT WEST POINT

While my personal observation is that Crichton never saw an airplane he did not like, he leans to the B-45 and C-130, in that order.

“I had the good fortune to be both an aircraft commander and instructor pilot in the B-45, which became operational in the early fifties -- it was our first multi-engine jet bomber.  From England, we planned for operations over Communist countries in B-45s equipped to deliver both conventional or nuclear weapons.  In fact, the Mark V atomic bomb was designed specifically for the B-45.  These missions proved to be a strong deterrence to Soviet Union advances in Western Europe.

TED CRICHTON FEELS B-45 FILLED VALUABLE SLOT DURING COLD WAR

We were commanded by Colonel David M. Jones, a former Doolittle Raider.  Early models of the B-45 were relatively short range, with insufficient fuel to reach some assigned targets and return to England.   He inspired us to believe dissidents in Eastern Europe would help get us home, just as the Chinese had helped the Raiders.  Fortunately, we never put that theory to the test.”

Inasmuch as Crichton is a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College and the National War College -- with a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology -- he left the B-45 in terms even a Marine could understand, “It was a good horse to ride!”

In the 1960’s, Crichton became involved in air transport operations, commanding units equipped with the C-130 at Squadron, Wing and Air Division levels.  On his way to becoming a Command Pilot, Crichton completed over 6,000 flying hours, including 100 combat missions in Southeast Asia.

Other Crichton assignments include tours in the Pentagon; Senior Military Airlift Command Officer in the Europe, Middle East, North Africa area; and from Pope Air Force Base, he commanded two active duty Air Force Wings.

Crichton’s personal decorations include the distinguished service medal, three legions of merit, distinguished flying cross, bronze star, and several air medals. 

GENERAL CRICHTON HAS IMPRESSIVE COLLECTION OF MEMORABILIA

As for the highlight of General Crichton’s Air Force career, “I spotted her in an Officers’ Club chow line at Sculthorpe RAF Base in England.  I wasn’t looking for a wife, but I knew in an instant that she was the one – it was definitely love at first sight.  In 1955, Stella Peterson and I were married.  She was the ideal military wife – we moved 27 times over our 54 years together.”  Mrs. Stella Crichton passed away in 2009.

The Crichton’s daughter, Teresa Crichton Audilet and her husband Alex, live in Greensboro, which led to her parents moving here in 1999.  There are three grandchildren – Emily, Matthew and Claire.

Upon his retirement in 1980, Crichton became Vice President of HR Textron, Inc. in Los Angeles.  He later joined American Nucleonics Corporation, and became president in 1988.  He retired again in 1992 but ANC hired him back as advisor to the president, “My third retirement was a charm – it was concurrent with our move to Greensboro.”

He is a Kiwanian; member of the Black Caps Veterans Group; West Point Society; Guilford County Veterans Memorial Board of Directors; 2008 inductee into the Delaware Aviation Hall of Fame; and active member of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church.

His love for flying did not end with his Air Force retirement, “I’ve worked as a volunteer at Oshkosh, Wisconsin Air Shows for over 20 years and have flown in numerous other air shows.”

Just how inadequate am I to write about General Ted Crichton?  Except for noticing a small photo on his wall, I would have never guessed this six foot, four inch giant of a man ran the individual half mile and the two-mile relay at West Point – he was a four-year letterman.

And except from a coffee table book, I would never have guessed he is a grandson of the famous illustrator and writer, Howard Pyle.  

To keep me in the loop, Crichton says of his grandfather, “He was the writer who put a good face on Robin Hood!”

  

 

      

  

OLYMPIAN IN OUR MIDST

While Colonel Guy Troy, U.S. Army (Retired) was a late bloomer as a modern pentathlon athlete, it did not keep him from winning a gold medal in the very first Pan American Games 1951 in Buenos Aires.  It wasn’t lost on Troy that another Armored Army officer finished fifth overall in the same sport in the 1912 Olympics at Stockholm.  That soldier’s name was Patton.

“Having served as a Cavalry Platoon Leader in Europe, I would have been happy if the Army had sent me directly to the Korean War from Buenos Aires after the Pan-Am Games.  Instead, they sent me to West Point to form and recruit a modern pentathlon team and start training for the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki,” Troy recalled from his home in Liberty, North Carolina.

Perchance you know more about shooting baskets or pool than pentathloning, here are the Cliff’s Notes of competitive events: Fencing, pistol shooting, 200 meter free-style swim, 4000 meter horseback ride with 25 jumps, and 4000 meter cross-country run.

During Olympic try-outs, player/coach Troy did well his first two days, “I was first in fencing, second in shooting, and sixth in swimming.  I was about six years older than most of the runners and came in eighth.  My wheels did not run off in the horseback competition, but my horse did – she fell about half way to the finish line.”

TROY POINTS TO TAG REPRESENTING
 HORSE HE DREW IN 1952 OLYMPICS

Troy finished fourteenth in individual completion and coached his team to a fourth place position in those 1952 Summer Olympics, “Actually, we tied with Finland for third, but they won the bronze medal because they beat us in the cross-country.”

He holds no grudges against his Olympic steed, “That horse had some age on her.  She did the best she could.  After all, she was one of 14 hand-me-downs sent to us from Fort Riley, Kansas.”

At 93, and retired to his Liberty, North Carolina farm, Troy is still an Olympic enthusiast.  “Will I be watching the events in Rio de Janeiro?  You bet!”  

FORMER OLYMPIAN GUY TROY RECEIVED
EARLY COPY OF 2016 PROGRAM FROM RIO

He has served in many Olympic capacities, including event judging in 1972, 1980, 1984 and 1990.  He fondly recalls witnessing the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” at Lake Placid. 

Even though the Pan American Games and Olympic competition kept Troy from Korea, he later commanded an Armored Reconnaissance Unit.  He served in Vietnam as intelligence officer for the 25^th Infantry Division in 1967-1968.

Although Troy is a graduate of West Point, he originally enlisted as an aviation cadet in the Army Air Corps in 1942.

“I already knew how to fly.  When the war started, I knew I wanted aviation.”  During aviation training, he was selected for the Academy in 1943 and graduated in 1946.  He served Cold War assignments in Germany and Austria before and after his pentathlon competition.  In 1959-1960 he served as a Military Adviser in Iran.

Troy married Winifred Hildegarde Charles, who died in 2009.  They had two sons, Guy K. Troy Jr., a West Point graduate and retired military, and Thaddeus W. Troy, a 30-year CIA employee.  There are four Troy grandchildren.

FRANK HEBERER (L) AND GUY TROY
TWO RETIRED COLONELS WHO SERVED TOGETHER IN
CONSTABULARY FORCE AFTER WW II

Troy’s father, Dr. Thaddeus Troy, practiced medicine in Greensboro for many years.  He and Dr. Wesley Long III were cousins.  Dr. Troy served in World War I and retired from the Army Reserve as a colonel.

There is another colonel of interest in Guy Troy’s lineage – Colonel Andrew Balfour.  According to Troy, ‘He is my great-great-great grandfather.” Balfour’s tombstone on Doul Mountain in Randolph County reads, “ …murdered by a band of Tories at his home.”

Balfour’s execution by the notorious loyalist leader, David Fanning, was one of many such incidents in the Piedmont wherein Whigs were gunned down during the unofficial “Tory War” in early 1782.  It has not gone unnoticed by the folks of Randolph County.  An Asheboro community is named in Balfour’s memory, as is a DAR Chapter and Masonic Lodge.

Obviously, Troy is a man of many interests – in his Liberty environs of several hundred acres, he has farmland and timberland, “Right now, I would have to say, my passion is forestry!” 

He has his own tennis courts.  Even though he has ample room for a golf course, he opted out, “Golf takes too much of my day – I have other things to do.”

Troy is a founder and active member of All Souls Anglican Church in Asheboro.  He also serves with the Randolph County Honor Guard, which conducts hundreds of military funerals each year for veterans across the Piedmont.  He is active with the West Point Society.

RETIRED ARMY COLONELS  FRANK HEBERER AND GUY TROY AT
TROY'S FARMHOUSE IN LIBERTY, NC
DECEMBER, 2015

  

            

THESE AREN'T CUSTER'S CALVARYMEN

Several hundred Vietnam War enthusiasts will converge on Grandover Resort June 1, 2016.  From Michigan to Atlanta, from Texas to New Bern, North Carolina, they’re coming to hear Joe Galloway talk about the Battle of la Drang and his best-selling book, We Were Soldiers Once…And Young.  

GRANDOVER RESORT -- GREENSBORO, NC

This talk is the West Point Society Piedmont’s idea of celebrating the 50^th Anniversary of the Vietnam War.  The luncheon meeting is by reservation only -- details and registration available at https://secure.west-point.org/wps-piedmont/luncheon/.

The November, 1965 Battle of la Drang was the first major battle of the Vietnam War.  Joe Galloway was the only war correspondent on the ground during the battle.  For his bravery in rescuing wounded soldiers under fire, the Army awarded him a bronze star.

Of Galloway, a Vietnam veteran wrote, “Joe has been one of the few from the media who has been kind to us – he is a wonderful spokesman for our involvement.” 

Several members of the 1^st Battalion, 7^th Cavalry, 1^st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), including Medal of Honor recipient, Joe Marm have registered to attend.

While the North Carolina Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association and North Carolina Chapter of the 1^st Cavalry Division Association will turn out in force to join their Air Cavalry peers, they will not lunch alone – Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard veterans – many who served in Vietnam – will join them. 

Officers from second lieutenants to generals will be on hand.  At least one command sergeant major will attend.  Probably, more than one private will show up.  While rank will have no privileges at this gathering – peace and decorum will not be a problem -- the group’s DNA is built around military courtesy.

One command sergeant major will be noticeable by his absence – CSM Basil L. Plumley.  The veteran of three wars and iconic senior enlisted leader during the Battle of la Drang died in 2012 at the age of 92.  Galloway will see to it that Plumley’s legacy is not forgotten.

It should also be noted that a huge number who did not serve militarily will be on hand to share the moment, including spouses, parents, children, grandchildren, friends, and some who just want to give Vietnam veterans the “Welcome Home,” they deserve.

“Grandchildren” was not a typo – “Thanks for opening this up to the public, this allows my husband and me to share my grandfather’s heritage – he served in Vietnam as an Air Force electronics warfare officer, wrote a respondent.” 

Given the Air Cavalry’s war-fighting technique, a litany of interesting military occupational specialties have surfaced among the registrants, including helicopter pilot, door gunner, flight engineer, mechanic and crew chief.

A Navy SEAL veteran of Vietnam and his wife, whose son is currently serving as a SEAL, a Riverine Boat Captain, a Naval Advisor, and an engineman will be among those representing the Navy.

Air Force-wise, there will be the Greensboro reservist whose crew flew to Hanoi in 1994 to repatriate the remains of two servicemen back to the U.S.

Among the Marines on hand will be three brothers – two served in Vietnam, the third is a MGySgt USMC (Ret.).  Also noticeable are over a dozen registrants from the Greensboro Marine Corps League – including veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and the Gulf Wars.

A Gold Star Wife has registered, as has a 94-year old purple heart, bronze star recipient from World War II.  Several highly decorated Special Forces and Army Ranger veterans will be on hand.

The Human Resources Director of one of the largest Triad manufacturers, and possibly the largest employer of veterans wrote, “My Battalion Commander considered We Were Soldiers Once required reading.  I’ve read it more than once, seen the movie, and followed Mr. Galloway and General Moore throughout their careers – I will be at the luncheon, as will a large number of my employees.”

Not that they would want it mentioned, but the West Point Society will be the majority block at the luncheon – as it should be.  They’ve done the heavy lifting to make this a signature event, both for the Triad and for 50^th Anniversary observances.

The West Point Society Piedmont consists of West Point graduates, their spouses, families, and a broad cross section of the community -- meetings are open to the public.  The organization supports the U.S. Military Academy and members of the Armed Forces. 

Three West Pointers are shown in the photograph above.  Among numerous personal decorations, Dr. Mike Brennan, Colonel USA (Ret.), and Ted Crichton, Brigadier General USAF (Ret.) hold distinguished service medals.  Bill Trivette, Lieutenant Colonel, USA (Ret.) is President of the West Point Society of the Piedmont. 

Registration will close on Friday, May 27, 2016, or sooner if all seats are sold.  Current information is available at https://secure.west-point.org/wps-piedmont/luncheon/.