Troy H. Middleton - Legacy

Legacy

In 1962, the year of Middleton's retirement from LSU, Mississippi State University declared him the "alumnus of the year," joining the company of earlier honoree, John C. Stennis, who had been the 1958 designate. On 10 September 1966, the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters awarded Middleton a bronze plaque, honoring him as the Louisianan of the Year for his accomplishments in racial peace-keeping while chairing the Commission on Human Relations, Rights, and Responsibilities. On 24 March 1973, the Middleton Collection of Memorabilia was dedicated at LSU. Housed in a 24 by 54 foot room in the university's library, the collection included pictures, letters, citations, awards, plaques, a uniform, riding boots, a saber and numerous other artifacts and documents. The room was maintained until 1999, when the space was given to other priorities, and all of the items were cataloged and moved to the university archives in the old Hill Memorial Library on campus.

On 3 November 1978 the LSU Board of Supervisors officially named the LSU library the "Troy H. Middleton Library," 20 years after the building was first dedicated. In Baton Rouge, off of South Foster Drive is a street named Middleton Place in honor of the General; and in 1986 at Mississippi State University the Army and Air Force ROTC building was named in honor of Middleton.

When interviewed by Middleton's biographer in 1965, former United States President Dwight Eisenhower, who had once been a student of Middleton's, had this to say about his former instructor:

First of all, he had moral courage, and he had common sense, and he took full advantage of all the experiences he'd had. You know, I like that saying attributed to Napoleon, that the genius in war is the man who can do the sensible thing or an average thing, when everybody else around him was crazy. Well now, that was Troy Middleton....I was impressed always by his complete command of himself and of the situation....Troy typified what you think of as the best in the Regular Army. He was intelligent, dedicated, and loyal. He always acted according to the old aphorism: Always take your job seriously and never yourself. If the war had gone on, he would certainly have led an army because we were still bringing in people.

— former United States President Dwight Eisenhower