More detail on this person: COL ROBERT
NEWTON Recipient of the Legion of Merit Member
of the Orange County Hunt COL Robert Winthrop
Newton, USA (Ret.), 81, died August 21 2012 at
Fauquier Hospital in Warrenton, VA. He died
peacefully in his sleep surrounded by his wife,
children and grandchildren. Born in 1931 in
Minneapolis, MN, to the late Kenneth Hudson and
Edna Taylor Newton of Minneapolis and Montauk,
MN, he followed his father into the Army at posts
in Washington, DC, California and Arkansas. COL
Newton graduated in 1955 from West Point, earned
a Bachelors and Masters in Aerospace Engineering
at Georgia Tech in 1963, and spent 25 years in the
service. In 1968, while serving with the United
States Army Board for Aircraft Accident Research,
he was awarded the Legion of Merit for his
investigation of helicopter crashes and
development of retro-fit kits for fuel cells,
which eliminated most crash fires. During his
career, he served in Iran with MAAG assisting the
Iranian Army in Kurdistan; in Viet Nam as battery
commander with the 1st Cavalry Helicopter
Division's 2nd Battalion, 20th Aerial Rocket
Artillery during the Tet offensive and as acting
commander of the 1st Cavalry Helicopter Battalion
going in to Khe Sanh; and in Korea where he is
remembered for the live fire demonstrations he
orchestrated as the 2nd Infantry Division Aviation
Battalion Commander. He received the Defense
Superior Service Medal for his work at the
Pentagon, Distinguished Flying Cross for rescuing
a downed helicopter crew prior to capture, Bronze
Star, Air Medal with V for Valor, and earned a
Master Aviator Badge. In 1980, after retiring from
the service, COL Newton moved with his wife,
Linda, to a horse farm in Marshall, VA where he
collected tractors, trucks and horses. COL Newton
built and managed his own mobile home community
in Stafford, VA. Despite the availability of
today's technology, his insisted that his paper
and pencil ledger system remained the most
efficient bookkeeping system for all his ventures.
An active sportsman, he played football and
wrestled in his school days; he learned to ski at
Camp Hale, CO and taught his family to love the
sport. An enthusiastic golfer, he parked his clubs
in 1992 to pursue his love of horseback riding,
joining the Orange County Hunt of The Plains, VA,
in which he served as Steward and Treasurer. COL
Newton rarely missed a hunt and loved the all-out
charge across the fields and over the coups on his
Belgian Hunter. The many hunt breakfasts,
point-to-points, and steeplechase races, were
exceeded in enjoyment only by his tales of the
foxes outwitting the hounds. Health issues and
falls required him to hang up his skis, helmets
and boots. Undaunted, he continued walking a mile
every day and doing his morning calisthenics. He
joined his wife in cheering on thoroughbred
racehorses, which she began to breed in 1999, and
winning the Maryland Million in 2008. Dedicated to
his alma mater, he attended innumerable
Army-Navy games, Class of '55 reunions, trips and
gatherings. An avid preservationist and land
conservationist, COL Newton worked with his wife
to acquire an historic property, The Rector House
at Atoka Road and Route 50, and to oversee its
restoration and the formation with his neighbors
of the Atoka Preservation Society. He was a
member of Trinity Episcopal Church of Upperville,
VA and managed Trinity's popular Annual Stable
tour in 1994 and 1995. He is predeceased by his
parents and brother, Kenneth H. Newton. He is
survived by his wife of 56 years, Linda Woodruff
Draper; his children, Robert W. Jr., Tracey L.,
David D. and Maryanne W.; and six grandchildren,
Robert W. III (Trey), Rebecca and Zachary Brak,
Draper and Avery Newton and Nell Nicastro.
Services, followed by interment, will be held at
Trinity Episcopal Church, 9108 John Mosby
Highway, Upperville, VA, on Saturday, September
29 at 11 a.m. Memorial contributions may be made
to the West Point Fund, in memory of Robert W.
Newton, Class of 1955, West Point Association of
Graduates, 698 Mills Road, West Point, NY 10996
or to The Atoka Preservation Society, PO Box 90,
Middleburg, VA 20118.Memorial contributions may
be made to the West Point Fund, in memory of
Robert W. Newton, Class of 1955, West Point
Association of Graduates, 698 Mills Road, West
Point, NY 10996 or to The Atoka Preservation
Society, PO Box 90, Middleburg, VA 20118.
Published in The Washington Post on September 9,
2012
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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