
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 2, 1991                   TAG: 9103020312
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY  
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

FUND SET UP TO HONOR SLAIN SOLDIER

Vinton has established a scholarship fund in memory of Army Lt. Terry Plunk, who died in combat Tuesday in Kuwait.

The Terry L. Plunk Memorial Scholarship Fund will be given to a William Byrd High School student who emulates Plunk's qualities, Mayor Charles Hill announced at a news conference Friday.

Plunk, 25, was killed in action while defusing mines during the allied advance on Kuwait City.

Plunk was "one we are all extremely proud of and better persons for knowing him," Hill said. "If asked to define the all-American, we could do it in two words, `Terry Plunk.' "

Plunk graduated from Byrd, where he had a perfect 4.0 grade-point average and was a star athlete. He also excelled academically at Virginia Military Institute, from which he was graduated in 1988. Plunk was active in the Vinton Baptist Church, Hill said.

"We're talking about a well-rounded young man," the mayor said.

So far, about one-third of the $25,000 goal for the scholarship fund has been donated, Hill said.

Virginia Military Institute established a fund that probably will be consolidated into the Vinton fund, Hill said. Plunk's family will have the last say in deciding details for the scholarship.

Donations may be sent to Terry L. Plunk Memorial Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 1991, Vinton 24179, or to the VMI Foundation, P.O. Box 932, Lexington 24450. Donations also may be turned in at the Troop Support Center in Vinton, the Vinton Municipal Building or William Byrd High School.

Memo: This story also ran in the metro edition, but without a byline.

by CNB