Military
Marksmanship
Association
Formerly
AMUA
- Army
Marksmanship Unit Association
|
Taps, Present Arms
Roy L. Sutherland MSG (Retired) Roy L. Sutherland, 89, died on March 12, 2008, in South Charleston, West Virginia. Roy was a proud veteran who served 30 years in the U.S. Army. He enlisted in 1940 at the age of 22 and retired in 1970. He courageously fought in three wars: World War II, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam War. His decorations include the Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal. Roy was one of the "building-blocks" of the initial USAMU Pistol Team and he was assigned to the team during the mid '50s and early '60s. Roy was a member of the U.S. Free Pistol Team that won the silver medal at the 1958 World Championships in Moscow, USSR, and a member of the gold medal Center Fire Team and gold medal Free Pistol Team at the 1959 Pan American Games in Waukegan, Illinois. Roy earned the U.S. Army Distinguished Pistol Shot Badge in 1957 and was retroactively awarded the United States Distinguished International Shooter Badge number 130 for his 1959 Pan American Games performance. In 1959 Roy set the U.S. international Free Pistol course record with a score of 567. After retirement from the U.S. Army, Roy worked until age 86. In 2007, he was presented the Order of the Thirty-Fifth Star, the highest honor bestowed to a West Virginian, by West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin. (West Virginia was the 35th state admitted into the Union.) His military service was also featured in a front-page article in The Charleston Gazette on November 12, 2007. Roy will be remembered by those who served with him as a tough soldier and competitor yet one who had great sense of humor, as a foot-stomping fiddler, and as an excellent cribbage player. |
