Robert Fred Guthrie is Cheyenne's first war casualty in Viet Nam.
Guthrie, who enlisted in the Navy when he was 18, died of gunshot wounds after being struck by sniper fire 20 miles south of Da Nang.
Guthrie was assigned to the 3rd Medical Battalion of the 2nd Marine Division.
Robert was born in Cheyenne on April 18, 1944.
He attended Trinity Lutheran School. then went to Carey Junior High. He was a student at East High until his senior year, when he transferred to Central.
Before he joined the Navy in July 1962, he worked for the Cheyenne Ambulance Service and it was during this time he became interested in medicine.
After separation from the service, Guthrie planned to attend to either earn a degree in pharmacy or specialize in some other branch of medicine.
His picture was included in a special article in Life Magazine on Nov. 26 (1965) entitled, "The Blunt Reality of War in Viet Nam". It showed Guthrie in a fortified village hunting the Viet Cong.
Friends described him as "extremely agile." They said he was good at all sports, but especially liked wrestling and water skiing. He also was an excellent diver and swimmer.
One of his favorite friends, who called herself his "adopted sister," Jeanne Soran Cassidy, said Bob always had a smile.
He is survived by his parents, Vern and Olga Guthrie; brothers David of Cheyenne and Leland of Laramie; sisters Dorothy Gauike of Laramie and Ruby Clark of Bloomington, Calif.
Funeral services were held at Trinity Lutheran Church and Military services in the Veterans' Section at Beth El Cemetary.
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