Roy E. Lindquist

Major General Roy Ernest Lindquist (February 18, 1907 – November 19, 1986) was a highly decorated senior United States Army officer. He saw service during World War II and is most noted for his leadership of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) during the campaign in Western Europe from June 1944 to May 1945.

Early years

Roy was born on February 18, 1907, in West Newton, Massachusetts, as the first of the three sons to Ernst and Anna Lindquist. He attended Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield, Maine. He also enlisted in the Maine Army National Guard in January 1924 in order to support his effort to be appointed to the United States Military Academy.

Young Lindquist was finally appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York as a Cadet on July 1, 1926. He graduated on June 11, 1930, and was also commissioned as a Second lieutenant in the infantry on that date. Subsequently, he was assigned to Fort Williams, Maine. He also married his fiancée Alice in December of the same year.

He spent the next decade on various infantry assignments in the United States, and also attended the Company Officers' Course at Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia in 1934. He was promoted to the rank of First lieutenant on August 1, 1935. By October 1939, Lindquist served with the 29th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning, Georgia. France decorated him with the Croix de guerre 1939-1945 for his part in the Normandy Campaign.

Postwar service After World War II, Lindquist graduated from the Command and General Staff School in 1946. He was then assigned to the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was appointed an assistant commander of the Airborne Department of the school under the command of Brigadier General William M. Miley. He served in this capacity until 1948, when he was transferred to Greece to become a member of the Joint Military Assistance Group during the Greek Civil War.

Lindquist stayed in Korea and was appointed the Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the IX Corps under the command of Lieutenant General James Edward Moore.

Now a major general, Lindquist was transferred back to the States and posted to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, before he was appointed a commander of the 3rd Infantry Division in March 1957.

Decorations Here is the ribbon bar of Major General Roy E. Lindquist: