Guy Troy (then US Army Captain) participated in the 1951 Pan Am Games and the 1952 Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland. His competition was in the Modern Pentathlon which consisted of Horse Riding, Fencing, Shooting, Swimming and Running. He placed 14 overall among hundreds of participants.
From a TIME magazine article comes this further information:
The military pentathlon, Captain Guy Troy is fond of saying, "is the true test of a man." Last week, during the tryouts for the U.S. Olympic pentathlon team, Troy found out that is a pretty good test of a horse, as well.
After two strenuous days of competition-fencing, shooting and swimming-Troy, pentathlon captain-coach, appeared to have matters well in hand. His first place in fencing, second in shooting and sixth in swimming gave him a two-point lead (9-11) over Lieut. Harlan Johnson. In third place, 15 points, was a lowly Pfc. named Thad McArthur, 23. A letterman swimmer at the University of Washington (class of '50), stocky (5 ft. 9 in., 160 lb.) McArthur, like most able-bodied youngtsers, had found himself drafted into the Army soon after graduation. His natural all-around athletic ability won him no fast promotions, but it did earn him a shot at West Point's pentathlon training camp.
McArthur won the forth event, the hill & dale cross-country run (some 4,000 meters) around the West Point golf course. Captain Troy, older by six years, managed to stagger in eighth (of twelve), and gave up the lead to McArthur, 16-17. The final event, horseback riding over a 4,000-meter course and 25 jumps, was one of Troys specialties. McArthur, a fledgling rider, finished a surprizing fourth. Troy never even finished. His mount, like McArthur's, was an aged, retired Army nag, borrowed from Fort Riley, Kans. because the U.S. Military Academy has none of its own. Troy's horse got halfway around the course and fell in a dead faint from the exertion.
Pfc. McArthur's fourth in riding was good enough to earn him the No. 1 Olympic pentahlon berth with 20 points. Despite his prowness, McArthur will still take orders from the three other qualifiers: Lieut. Fred Denman (24 points), Captain Troy (25) and Lieut. Johnson (26).
A Memorial Day Speech by Guy Troy
Asheboro, NC May 25, 2009
We are gathered today to honor the memory of those countrymen who gave their lives in the defense of our great country and that peoples of the world could live in freedom from oppression. They made the supreme sacrifice for our country and truly exemplified the motto DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY.
Who were these servicemen and women whom we honor today? They came and still do from all walks of life when their country called clerks, salesmen, nurses, doctors, teachers and mechanics. They questioned not the call. It was their DUTY to serve their COUNTRY. Their names and fame are the birthright of every loyal American citizen. In their youth and strength, their love of country, and loyalty they gave all that mortality can give. They need no eulogy from me or any other man. They have written their own history with their own blood. When we think of their patience under adversity and courage under fire we are filled with an emotion difficult to put into words.
They belong to history as furnishing one of the greatest examples of patriotism. They belong to posterity as the teacher for future generations for the principles liberty and freedom and they belong to us the present, to us, by their virtues and by their achievements. From one end of the world to the other they have drained deep the chalice of courage.
Thirteen days from today we will observe the 65 the greatest crusade of mankind. On that day our forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. Therefore this Mem Day has special significance because there is no doubt that WWII was this countries greatest effort in preserving the freedom of the peoples of the world. Without the sacrifice and leadership of the US there would be no freedom as we know it today. There were over 5000 Americans who sacrificed their lives on those beaches, many more than died on 9/11 or Pearl Harbor and in Iraq in 7 years. To those lying under the white crosses in Arlington, the Punchbowl in the Pacific, Luxembourg, Italy and other military cemeteries throughout the world we owe so much. They did their DUTY with HONOR for COUNTRY.
Duty comes in many forms in wartime, be it rifleman, clerk, truck driver, nurse, seaman, pilot, Chaplain or any other of the multitude of jobs required by the military. Certainly one of the most striking examples of duty is that of the 4 Chaplains of the troop ship USAT Dorchester. On Feb 2, 1943, the ship carrying 902 soldiers and seamen was sailing in the icy waters of the No Atlantic from Newfoundland to Greenland. They were in dangerous waters. A submarine was sighted earlier and the Capt ordered the men to sleep in their clothing with life jackets on. Unfortunately some disregarded the order as the jackets were uncomfortable. At 12:AM the German sub U-223 sighted the Dorchester. The torpedo hits were deadly, striking amidship far below the water line. The Capt orders the ship abandoned. Within 27 minutes the ship would be gone. On board it was panic and chaos. Many were killed by the explosion. Those sleeping without clothing rushed out to be hit with icy blasts of artic air. Men jumped into life boats filling them and capsizing many. Through the pandemonium the 4 chaplains brought hope in despair and light in darkness. One was a Methodist, one was Jewish, one was a Catholic, and one was Reformed. They went among the soldiers calming the frightened, tending the wounded, and guiding the disoriented to safety. Those survived the ordeal vividly remember the prayers which they offered.
One sailor tried to re-enter his cabin but was stopped by the Jewish chaplain. The sailor had forgotten his gloves. Never mind said the chaplain, I have two pair. Later the sailor realized that it was his own pair the chaplain had given him. The 4 found a storage locker with life jackets and began to distribute them. When there were no more they took off their own and gave them to 4 frightened young men. They did not call for a Jew, Catholic, or Protestant they just gave the jackets to the next man in line. As the ship went down they stood together with arms linked and prayed together. Duty, Honor, Country.
The US lost many a brave serviceman in Korea. They called it the “forgotten war” but 42 million So Koreans who live in Freedom today will not forget our sacrifice. The V/N war perhaps has had the most impact on me. Every Mem Day is a time for me to remember a serviceman from Randolph County who gave his life for our country.
Charles T. Parker from Farmer worked for me in my G-2 section of the 25 Our Div HQ was out in the jungle on an operation. Since we remained operational 24 hours a day the section worked in shifts. Charles had just gone off duty and was resting in his tent. A mortar round, similar to the ones falling in Iraq and Afghanistan today, exploded in the trees overhead and a piece of shrapnel struck Charles in the head killing him instantly. He was a good soldier, husband, and father. He is one of the many thousand of Charles Parkers we honor today and lived up to the motto of DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY.
Since WWII the US has been the leader of the free World. We are that leader today and in spite of what some of our leaders say we don’t need to apologize to any one about our way of life. I will never apologize for my country or actions it takes! We are still the envy of people throughout the world and I am proud of all that we do. The world still looks to the US for leadership in every walk of life be it militarily or economically.
We stand for freedom but it comes with sacrifice such as those we honor today. We would not have that freedom and standard of living without that sacrifice. Perhaps we should also remember in our own way the sacrifices of the Mothers and Fathers who held these heroes so dear. It can be said that they also served. This sort of sacrifice brings to mind the story of the 5 Sullivan brothers who upon hearing of Pearl Harbor enlisted in the Navy together. They grew up very close to one another in Waterloo, Iowa, and the Navy allowed them to serve on the same ship, the light cruiser USS Juneau. In one of the fierce Naval battles in the Pacific, their ship was sunk and all of the Sullivan brothers were lost. A year later another fighting ship was christened by their Mother the USS Sullivans. This ship continued in service through V/N and there is now a newer ship the Sullivans serving today. As it turned out also on the Juneau were four brothers also from Waterloo who perished. This led to the policy of not allowing brothers to serve on the same ship or fighting units.
Today our nation faces grave danger from terrorists. Make no mistake this is a war just as much as WWII although fought in a different manner. Unfortunately this is a religious war. The religion of Islam is an honorable one but unfortunately where radical organizations are usually not violent, radical Islam lives by violence. Today both in our country and overseas Americans are fighting in various ways to protect this wonderful country of ours from an enemy that hates America. Unfortunately it is a long lasting war. Some of our people will probably also make the supreme sacrifice in this struggle,
So tonight let us in our prayers thank those who have made our way of life possible and those who continue to do so.
Thank you.
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Family reunion ... at graveyard (2000)
By Kathi Keys
Staff Writer, The Courier-Tribune
ASHEBORO - On top of a hill at Doul Mountain, about 30 people gathered Friday afternoon to view the graves of their ancestors.
They came from throughout the United States to see the cemetery where Revolutionary War patriot Col. Andrew Balfour was buried - not far from where he was murdered by a band of Tories on March 10, 1782.
The Balfour family is holding a reunion this weekend in Asheboro - their headquarters is the Hampton Inn - with more than 50 taking part. They've gathered from as far away as California and the state of Washington.
For many reunion participants, Friday's visit to the colonel's grave was the first, while others were returning for another viewing, some having been at the cemetery when a family reunion was held in Asheboro in 1976.
Why did some of them come?
"It's because it's the millennium. We're going back to our roots ... way back," said Teresa Norevil of Gage, Okla.
She's attending the reunion with her mother, JoAnna Peard of Vici, Okla., a great-great -great -great -granddaughter of Balfour.
Jane Claggett of Little Rock, Ark., had never seen the grave, but her mother, now 92 and unable to attend this year's reunion, had been there before, as had an aunt and uncle.
The reunion has also attracted four generations of one family. They're cousin descendants of Andrew Balfour.
There's Marjorie Emmons of Lakewood, Colo., who's regent of her Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) chapter, along with her daughter, Sharon Lloyd, and granddaughter, Beth Boisseau, both of Plano, Texas, and both DAR members. The fourth generation includes Beth's two sons, Nick, 14, and Jason, 5, and daughter, Jessica, 6.
Reunion participants were led to the Doul Mountain Cemetery, where Balfour is buried, by retired COL. Guy Troy of Liberty, who has been Balfour Family Reunion president for the past year. One of Balfour's daughters married Guy Troy's great-great-great-grandfather.
"When I first came here in the '30s, there were two cedar trees," Troy told his relatives who had made the nine-mile trip from town to the cemetery Friday afternoon. Two blooming crepe myrtles and two deciduous trees now stand over the cemetery around which a stone wall has been erected.
"I don't know where the house was," Troy continued, "but it was probably on higher ground ... the cemetery wouldn't have been near it." He pointed northeast to a possible house location, toward where Asheboro Municipal Airport is now.
The City of Asheboro owns the tract on which the cemetery is located on Doul Mountain Road, off Tot Hill Farm Road. "It wasn't Tara he (Balfour) lived in. It was a pretty rough life for them and he spent a lot of time away because he was in the militia."
Troy said he believes the family's spring house was immediately to the east because he found bricks there in the past, near Bettie Me Gees Creek.
"There may have been other people buried here," he said about the cemetery. Now, five tombstones are prominent at the cemetery. In the center is Col. Andrew Balfour's which states "murdered by a band of Tories at his home." It's flanked on one side by the grave of his second wife, Elizabeth Dayton, who died in 1818, and their son, Andrew Balfour, Oct. 22, 1776-Dec. 31, 1825. On the other side are the tombstones of the colonel's sister, Margaret Balfour, who died in 1816, and his daughter from the second marriage, Margaret B. Hughs, 1775-1820.
Following the Doul Mountain Cemetery visit, Troy led family members to the grave of Balfour's daughter from his first marriage, Tibby, who married into the Troy Family - hence the Troy connection to the Balfour’s. This grave is at Bethany Baptist Church on Shiloh Road, Liberty, on a tract given to the church by the Troy Family.
Balfour Family members started gathering in Asheboro Thursday evening for the reunion which continues through Sunday morning. They met Friday morning to discuss their family relationships before visiting the cemeteries. And they met again Friday night to socialize and review a IS-family chart of descendants of Andrew Balfour. Today, family members are gathering at 10 to discuss setting up a website for Balfour descendants and once again exchange genealogy information. Tonight, the family will enjoy a catered dinner at the Hampton Inn and hold their business meeting - electing new officers, discussing old and new business and where to meet for their next reunion.
Balfour reunions, begun in 1969, have been held annually since 1973 throughout the U. S., including Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, ILLINOIS and New Mexico. Only two have been held in Asheboro - this year's and in 1976. Who's selected president will determine the location of next year's reunion.
"We're all kissing cousins," Guy Troy said about his relatives as they gathered for a family photograph at the grave site of Col. Andrew Balfour.
The Balfour Family website will be http://www.andrewbalfour.com/N. For further information about the family, contact historian Beverley Estlinbaum, 3732 Princeton, Edmond, Okla. 73034.
Guys Immediate Famly:
Wife: Winifred Hildegarde Charles B: August 26, 1925 D: February 16, 2009
Married: December 21, 1952
Her Father: Walter Harry Charles
Her Mother: Johanna Hess
His Father: Colonel Thaddeus Simms Troy (Doctor)
His Mother: Sarah Harriet Williamson
Their Children: Guy K. Troy, Jr.
Thaddeus W. Troy
