Mitchell Stout
Honored and Remembered

Sergeant Mitchell Stout has been honored by the nation, his community, the United States Army, and its veterans. This page is dedicated to collecting and telling those stories.

Mitchell Stout
Memorials

Mary Faye Thomas accepts the Medal of Honor for her son, Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout, from then Vice President Gerald R. Ford during a ceremony July 17, 1974. Stout, an artilleryman with the 1st Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, was killed during the Vietnam War protecting fellow Soldiers. Stout was killed March 12, 1970 in Vietnam when he shielded his fellow Soldiers from a grenade thrown into their bunker. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army)

Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout's mother and two sisters stand with then Tennessee Congressmen John J. Duncan and William E. Brock following the Medal of Honor ceremony July 17, 1974. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army)
Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout's family visits the Medal of Honor display at the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes July 17, 1974. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army)

Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington D.C.

Honoring the men and women who served in the Vietnam War, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial chronologically lists
the names of 58,318 Americans who gave their lives in service to their country.

MITCHELL W. STOUT

HONORED ON PANEL 13W, LINE 121 OF THE WALL

This photo of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was taken on November 11, 2023. Members of NDQSA gather every year in Washington D.C. on Veterans Day to take part in the Annual Veterans Day Observation at the Wall and its wreath laying ceremony.  Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout’s name is in the upper third of the picture. There were two small flags left by other visitors. Their reflection highlights the honor we pay to his memory.

Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout honored by veterans at the WALL

Members of NDQSA meet 1997 - John Mowatt Memories

John Mowatt writes about his very first trip to the WALL in Washington DC in 1997 for Veterans Day. It was his first meeting (by accident) with his BROTHERS from the National Dusters, Quads & Searchlights Association (NDQSA)! As John says, "How could anyone miss that sea of red NDQSA hats and jackets. My hand is on my dear friend Joe Balardo’s shoulder. Thank you Joe Balardo for taking me under your wing and introducing me around." One of the association members left this memorial for Mitchell Stout, Medal of Honor recipient. It consisted of a NDQSA cap, a small U.S. flag, and the wooden dedication plaque with a model duster, Vietnam unit patches, and 1/44 Air Defense Artillery insignia.

The Wall of Faces

The virtual Wall of Faces features a page dedicated to honoring and remembering every person whose name
is inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout Medal of Honor
Memorial Dedication
Virtue Cemetery Farragut, Tennessee
12 March 1995, the 25th anniversary of Sergeant Stout's death

Common Men of Uncommon Valor

Lieutenant Colonel David M. Casmus, Commander, 2nd Battalion (Air Assault), 44th Air Defense Artillery speaks at the dedication.

• This hallowed place and these wonderful monuments also honor the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who today stand ready to defend our nations and her national interest, whenever and wherever they may be called.
• Today’s soldiers draw inspiration and example from the soldiers whose names adorn these monuments.
• The reason why young soldiers continue to serve is because communities and ordinary citizens like you have imparted the strong values all soldiers take pride in: courage, competence, commitment, candor and integrity.
• You, ladies and gentlemen, are the reason we serve our great nation. and we are proud of you and grateful you have chosen to remember our fallen brothers in this special manner.

Maybe I Can Help Someone

Colonel (USA Retired) Jack Daniel speaks at the dedication ceremony.

• When asked why he was returning to Vietnam for his second tour by Buddy White, Sergeant Mitchell Stout replied, “Maybe I can help somebody.”
• Today is about the love, sacrifice, and heroism of a warrior, not only the love and sacrifice of Mitch Stout but also about those who sat and waited.
• Today is about decisive actions – Sergeants are about action. They take the bit in their teeth and make things happen – whatever it takes. Stout had less than five seconds to decide: to do nothing … to throw his body on the grenade … or get it out and throw it back! So today is about decisiveness and action.
• So never let us forget Mitchell William Stout … Tennessean … Volunteer … Sergeant, United States Army … Soldier … Warrior … Lifesaver and Hero.

Volunteers of Tennessee

James R. (Buddy) White Speaks at the Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout Medal of Honor Recipient Memorial Dedication, March 12, 1995.

• During the Mexican War, Tennessee was asked for 3,000 volunteers. Thirty thousand volunteered, thus giving us the name Volunteers of Tennessee. Mitchell Stout was a volunteer. He volunteered for the Army in 1967 at the age of 17; in 1968 he volunteered for Vietnam, then volunteered to go back.
• After hearing that he was going back, and while he was home on leave, I tried to discourage him from going back and asked him one question: “Why?” His reply was, “Maybe I can help someone.”
• Everyone was touched by this war in one way or another. In a few minutes you will hear the names of 117 men from Knox and Loudon counties. When you hear it took 56 hours to read the names on the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C., at its dedication service, you can visualize the vastness of the casualties.
• I started this memorial from reading in the paper about the problems Richard O’Brian was having trying to get Mitchell recognized in his own community. No one seemed to know and, in some cases, didn’t even care about him or 58,000-plus others who died or the other Vietnam veterans who lived to come home. I hope that this token of appreciation and gratitude to them is accepted, and that Mitch and all the Vietnam veterans will accept our apologizes for being so late to recognize them.

The Mitchell W. Stout memorial is located at the Virtue Cumberland Presbyterian Church cemetery. The memorial grounds are laid out like the Medal of Honor - a star within a circle. At the point of each star is a large marble marker commemorating a different event, person or military honor. Along with the Sgt. Mitchell Stout stone, others include a Knox/Loudon Vietnam Wall listing 117 names of soldiers killed in action, a stone honoring all veterans buried at the Virtue cemetery, a veteran's memorial honoring all veterans in all branches of the service and a Tennessee Medal of Honor stone honoring 34 recipients from the Civil War to present. There are also two other stones outside the formation honoring two Civil War Medal of Honor recipients, Captain Frederick Swift and Sgt. Joseph Brandle.

Loudon County Courthouse Memorial
Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout

Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout, Loudon County, was honored for his heroism once again when a memorial was dedicated to him on Veteran's Day, November 11, 2009 at 11 a.m. in front of the Loudon County Courthouse. This section is a compilation of the advance announcement by local news and later photos taken of the memorial. (Photographs by Don Morfe)

The Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout Memorial Bridge

On April 19, 2013, state of Tennessee senate bill 64 was passed into law declaring:
The bridge spanning Tennessee River on Interstate 75 in Loudon County is designated the “Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout Memorial Bridge” in recognition of the life of valor and death in combat of Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout, who made the ultimate sacrifice on March 12, 1970, while courageously protecting his fellow soldiers from a grenade blast at Khe Gio Bridge during the Vietnam War.

Pictures Source is the The Historical Marker Database for the town of Loudon in Loudon County, Tennessee

NDQSA archived copy of selected pages from the 2013 Tennessee Law
that names the Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout Memorial Bridge

Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout, East Tennessee Veterans Memorial

The East Tennessee Veterans Memorial is a public plaza in downtown Knoxville, TN with a formal arrangement of granite pillars bearing the names of 6316 fallen heroes from 35 East Tennessee counties who died in military service during named conflicts since World War I. It was dedicated and officially unveiled on November 15, 2008.

The names of the 14 Medal of Honor recipients from East Tennessee are inscribed and honored on the reverse side of the pillars. Quotations related to the wars and national service offer an occasion for reflection and meditation.

Sergeant Stout is memorialized on Pillar XXIII

Of special interest to historians is a picture of a newspaper clipping added by a visitor entitled The stories of a boxer and a soldier. An archived transcription of the article is offered under the Remembered section of this page. It has the only know photo of Mitchell Stout’s mother receiving his posthumous award from then Vice President Ford.

Another interesting item for historians is the Stout monument’s association with the foreground pillar.
The poem is titled “If You Are Able” and was written by Major Michael Davis O’Donnell on January 1, 1970 at Dak To, Vietnam.

The rest of the story: On March 24, 1970, Major O’Donnell was the aircraft commander aboard a UH-1H Iroquois on a mission to extract a Special Forces long-range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) team which was in contact with the enemy inside Cambodia. The aircraft picked up the recon team and was beginning its ascent when it was struck by ground fire and suffered an explosion that caused it to crash. Heavy enemy presence in the area prevented ground investigations of the UH-1H’s crash site at the time. He and all aboard were listed as MIA. In April 1995, a U.S. search team recovered remains associated with the loss of MAJ O’Donnell’s helicopter. In 2001, advances in forensic techniques allowed for some of the recovered remains to be identified as those of MAJ O’Donnell. 

Mitchell W. Stout Memorial Bench

Mitchell W. Stout Memorial Bench
Bench being installed in front of the ADA Learning Center

                       Bench Inscription                  

IN MEMORY OF SERGEANT MITCHELL W. STOUT
Air Defense Artillery’s only Medal of Honor recipient
Khe Gio Bridge, Vietnam, March 12, 1970
sacrificed his life that others might live

National Dusters, Quads & Searchlights, Assn.
Visit NDQSA.COM to learn more about Mitchell Stout,
the battle, and how the nation has honored and remembered him.

                                              Dedication

The National Dusters, Quads & Searchlights Association works to preserve the service heritage of the men who served in Vietnam with Air Defense Artillery. This memorial bench, dedicated to Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout, is a fitting tribute and part of that heritage.  Young soldiers and visitors pass by every day and pause to sit and reflect on his sacrifice. It was installed on June 11, 2024 along the entrance walk way to the Air Defense Artillery Learning Center, Fort Sill, Oklahoma.  

Mitchell Stout
Honored

Speech by Judge Donald Wittenberger to the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial Association's Second Annual Medal of Honor Evening at The Foundry, Knoxville World's Fair Park, on May 7, 2012.

When the enemy grenade was thrown into Sergeant Stout’s bunker, he didn’t have time to think.  A grenade fuse burns for four or five seconds, and there was just barely time to grab it and run outside, where it exploded and killed him.  Doing this saved the lives of the four men in the bunker with him.  He can’t tell us what he thought about in those last few seconds, but I think I know.  I’m pretty sure two things were in his mind.  First, “I’ve got to get this grenade out of here,” and second, “this is my responsibility.”  As a United States Army Sergeant, he was concerned about taking care of his men. And as a former infantryman, he lived by the credo of “follow me”.
Quote from Speech by Judge Donald Wittenberger to the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial Association’s Second Annual Medal of Honor Evening at The Foundry, Knoxville World’s Fair Park, on May 7, 2012

NDQSA Marker and Tree at Virtue Cemetery

Sgt. Stout Medal of Honor Memorial.
On the left of the walkway is the NDQSA tree and marker.
NDQSA planted a tree in Sgt. Stout’s honor and placed a stone marker.
NDQSA stone marker is dedicated to Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout and other honored soldier’s memories.
Google employee reflected in the Sgt Stout Medal of Honor Memorial

Representatives of the National Dusters, Quads & Searchlights Association, Inc. visited the Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout Medal of Honor Memorial located next to the Virtue Cemetery, Farragut, Tennessee on 11 July 1998. 

They planted a tree in his honor and laid a stone marker dedicated to his memory.

 

Most of this imagery was obtained from a Google 360-degree mapping camera tower that was set up at the Sergeant Stout memorial. Your webmaster manipulated the raw data to get these screen shots. For technique explanation and public interest, we have included one screen capture of the Google employee reflected in the Sgt. Stout Medal of Honor memorial itself with the camera tower behind him.

text  from  the  marker
A SINGLE TREE, A SINGLE LIFE
ONE GOD, ONE COUNTRY, ONE NATION
MAY THE BEAUTY AND LIFE REPRESENTED BY THIS TREE,
SIGNIFY THAT OF THE LIFE OF SGT. MITCHELL W. STOUT AND
OTHERS HONORED HERE, WHO SO UNSELFISHLY GAVE THEIR
LIVES FOR YOU, THEIR FELLOW SOLDIERS, AND COUNTRY.
DEDICATED JULY 11, 1998
NATIONAL DUSTERS, QUADS, AND SEARCHLIGHTS ASSOCIATION
TO HEAL AND BRING TOGETHER THE DIVIDED
TOGETHER THEN        TOGETHER AGAIN

Mitchell W. Stout Physical Fitness Center

Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas features a 60,000 square foot gym and outdoor track named the Mitchell W. Stout Physical Fitness Center

Stout Hall at Fort Cavazos, Texas

The headquarters building of the 1st Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment is named Stout Hall in honor of Mitchell W. Stout. Sergeant Stout was assigned to the 1st/44th ADA Battalion when he was killed in Vietnam at Khe Gio bridge. You can read about the battle and his sacrifice on this website. The 1/44 is assigned to the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, also located on Tedesco Way, Fort Cavazos, Texas.

The photo to the left is a 1992 historical treasure recovered from the National Archives. In it Colonel George H. Sheldon Jr., 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade commander, and Jack W. Stout, father of SGT. Mitchell W. Stout, Vietnam Medal of Honor awardee (posthumously), pose beside the unveiled marker erected in Stout's honor in front of the new brigade headquarters on Fort Hood, Texas being named in Stout's memory on December 4, 1992. 

There is still a mystery to this story. The building in the photo is probably not today’s Stout Hall.  The 31st Bde was reactivated on April 1, 1988 at Fort Hood Texas and aligned with III Corps. In February 1996, the brigade moved to Fort Sill, Oklahoma.  The 1/44 Bn was at Fort Lewis, Washington from 1988 through 1994 when it was inactivated, to be later reactivated in 1996 at Fort Hood but it would not be given a brigade headquarters building. The 69th ADA Bde did not relocate from Wurzburg, Germany and uncase its colors at Fort Cavazos, formally Fort Hood, until 16 Sep 2008.  It and its subordinate battalions are in new construction specifically build for their operations. So where is the marker?

Stout Avenue at Fort Sill, Oklahoma

Fort Sill, Oklahoma has named one of their streets “Stout Avenue”
after Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout.

Fun Story: 

The 4th Battalion, 60th Air Defense Artillery Regiment (M-SHORAD) was reactivated at Fort Sill, Oklahoma on March 4, 2022. Lieutenant Colonel Alex Corby took command of the unit. Fourteen NDQSA members who served with the 4/60th in Vietnam attended the ceremony and then participated in other events with the new unit later in the month. One of those events was a fire pit evening at Lt. Col. Corby’s quarters with the 4/60th battery command teams and NDQSA members; smoking cigars, building bonds, and sharing stories with their Vietnam teammates. At one point Rick Liebendorfer pointed out to Lt. Col. Corby that his house was on Stout Avenue. Until then he had not even realized that his address honored Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout and was in tribute to the Medal of Honor recipient.

Sergeant Mitchell Stout’s medals are on display
in the Farragut, Tennessee City Hall Museum

Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout’s medals are on display at the Farragut Museum located in City Hall, Farragut, Tennessee.

note: the museum is under a two year renovation and not open to the public until sometime in early 2025.

Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout has been awarded the following medals and badges: Medal of Honor, Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device, Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Purple Heart, Combat Infantry Badge, and Army Parachutist Badge. Sergeant Stout was initially awarded a Silver Star for his act of gallantry on 12 March 1970. It was upgraded to the Medal of Honor on 12 September 1974.

Mitchell W. Stout Gravesite - Virtue Cemetery Tennessee

This is a collection of photographs of Sergeant Mitchell Stout’s gravesite to honor his memory.

Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout’s gravesite is in the Virtue Presbyterian Cemetery, Farragut, Tennessee.   Just outside the cemetery itself is the Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout Medal of Honor Memorial.   Address for both is 12420 Evans Road, Knoxville, TN 37934.

gravesite Sgt. Mitchell Stout Photographed By Don Morfe, October 2013

This is the original VA marker before Sergeant Mitchell Stout was awarded the Medal of Honor. Photographer UNK

This photo of Sergeant Stout’s gravesite was taken by Kate Clabough in 2014 for her article

This photo was taken in the summer of 2019 by Sheena^78 who contributes to the Find a Grave service

This is a screenshot from the 16 June 2022 WLTV News broadcast segment about Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout. Of notable interest is that it also captures his mother’s gravesite in the background

This is a picture of the gravestone of Mitchell Stout’s mother. Mary Faye Thomas had remarried before Sergeant Stout was killed in Vietnam. She passed away December 7, 2009.
Her grave is positioned to watch over her son.

For historical purposes NDQSA is also archiving information about the burial sites of his mother, Mary Faye Thomas, and his father, Jack Kenneth Stout.

The Stout M-SHORAD

Army Renames Air Defense System After Sergeant Stout

The Army renamed the Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense system for Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout during an Army birthday festival on June 15, 2024 at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. “Naming this game-changing air defense capability after Sgt. Stout was appropriate and well-deserved, given his heroic efforts to protect fellow Soldiers from danger,” said Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics, and technology. “The M-SHORAD was designed to do the same against a variety of airborne threats.” The system uses a mix of guns, missiles, and onboard sensors attached to a Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle to defend against unmanned aircraft systems, rotary wing, and fixed-wing aircraft.

The SGT Stout vehicle fielding and capabilities

Soldiers with the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Regiment were the first to receive and test four of the increment one defense systems. They successfully conducted live-fire tests at the Putlos Bundeswehr range on the Baltic Sea coast of Germany in 2021 and became fully equipped with the systems in 2023. The Army plans to field 144 air defense systems to four battalions by fiscal year 2025 with an additional 18 systems for training, operational spares and testing. Incremental upgrades to the system will feature enhanced effects including directed energy, and improved missiles and ammunition. The Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office completed the delivery of four directed energy systems to the 4th Battalion, 60th Air Defense Artillery Regiment last fall. “The M-SHORAD family of systems adds commensurate mobility or survivability to maneuvering forces and joint maneuvering forces through protection against enemy air threats,” Bush added. “Its flexibility and versatility provide a best value for the nation and increases Soldier capabilities through performance and training capabilities.”

A Stinger missile launches from the new Maneuver Short Range Air Defense system. Picture October 7, 2021. 

249th Army Birthday Festival unveils SGT Stout

Sergeant Major of the U.S. Army Michael R. Weimer unveils the Sgt. Stout M-SHORAD Stryker combat vehicle during the 249th Army Birthday Festival at the National Museum of the U.S. Army, Fort Belvoir, Va., June 15, 2024. The M-SHORAD uses the M-1126 Stryker combat vehicle as its chassis. The M-SHORAD's dedicated air defense artillery (ADA) and non-dedicated air defense capabilities enable movement and maneuver by destroying, neutralizing, or deterring low-altitude air threats to defend critical fixed and semi-fixed assets and maneuver forces.

Mitchell Stout
Remembered

A Hero in our Midst

DQS_T Stout MOH 136 MOH memorial stone _Kate Clabough photo

Photos by Kate Clabough _A Hero in our Midst

Upper Left:  Stout Virtue Cemetary Memorial _Kate Clabough photo

Upper Right:  Medal of Honor memorial stone _Kate Clabough photo

Lower Left:  Mitchell Stout grave site _Kate Clabough photo

A Hero in our Midst

Journalist and author, Kate Clabough, wrote this excellent article for a print publication then put it on her Prairie Raconteur web site so it would have a lasting place on the internet. She has graciously allowed NDQSA to share and use content from her story about Mitchell Stout. Her research spans the idea behind the memorial and interviews with Don Wittenberger about Sergeant Stout's ultimate sacrifice. Below is an excerpt from her work that tells the story about how the memorial came about.

  • The event may have passed quietly into history with no more fanfare, but for a jogger who stumbled across Stout’s grave in 1993.
  • “I saw the word Vietnam on the upright stone,” said retired Master Sgt, Richard O’Brien. “When I looked down, I saw Medal of Honor on the flat stone beneath it. I wanted to find out who this man was, so I started to ask around.”
  • O’Brien searched but found very little information on Stout. No one seemed to know anything about him. He finally found a slim folder at the East Tennessee Historical Society. Armed with this small bit of information, he went to the Town of Farragut and suggested a walkway at Turkey Creek be named in his honor.
    ” Things moved slowly and O’Brien was frustrated at the lack of interest.
  • He finally looked to then editor, Michael Holtz, of the Press Enterprise for assistance. After two stories appeared in December 1993 and January 1994, people started to take interest in the little-known hero laid to rest in the Virtue Cumberland Presbyterian Church cemetery.
  • One such person was James R. ‘Buddy’ White, a friend of Stout.
  • White, a local businessman had received a copy of The Wall: A Day at the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial by Peter Moyer as a Christmas gift from his daughter. This book and Holtz’s articles gave him the idea to build a memorial to Mitchell Stout in conjunction with a tribute to Tennessee’s other fallen veterans.
  • A nearly three-inch thick black notebook holds correspondence, blueprints, fundraising ideas, and plans for the memorial. It all came to fruition on March 12, 1995. On the 25th anniversary of Stout’s death and after nearly a year of planning, a ceremony was held to dedicate the Mitchell W. Stout memorial. More than 300 people attended the event. Military dignitaries, Stout’s fellow soldiers and many others were present at White’s invitation. The ceremony was further enhanced as helicopters flew overhead in a missing man formation.
  • White didn’t miss a thing.
  • “I figured if nobody else was going to do it,” White said, “I’d do it myself.”

Deed of Honor - Mitchell Stout's parents remember their son

This 1979 article exists only as an archived document. The picture above is not associated with the article but is one of the last photographs of Sergeant Stout sent home to his mother.  Together they provide historians with a very personal look into Mitchell Stout, the son who became a soldier. 

ADA's Medal of Honor Recipient no Longer an 'Unknown Soldier'
Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout

This 1998 ADA Journal article exists only as an archived document. 

(short extracts below with link to the archived ADA Journal article)

Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout is Air Defense Artillery’s only Medal of Honor recipient but, for decades after Vietnam, he had also been something of a mystery. “We get frequent requests for information about Sergeant Stout,” said Air Defense Artillery historian Patricia Rhodes. ” I was surprised to discover how little the branch actually knows about him. Fort Bliss named the Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout Physical Fitness Center, one of the installation’s most prominent structures, after him, but there’s nothing in the files except a blurry photograph and the Medal of Honor citation. Perhaps, earlier historians thought the citation was sufficient. Mitchell Stout, the soldier, has been obscured by the aura that surrounds the Medal of Honor. In a sense, he’s been Air Defense Artillery’s ‘Unknown Soldier.’ “

The U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery School asked the Vietnam Duster, Quad 50, Searchlight and Hawk Association to help fill in the blanks. The association furnished the name of James R. (Buddy) White, a friend of Mitchell Stout’s since high school days. Thanks to Buddy White, the Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout file at Fort Bliss is no longer an almost empty folder. The source documents and information about Mitchell Stout that White provided reveal that Sergeant Mitchell Stout’s Medal of Honor was no fluke. A typical American youth, Mitchell Stout became an outstanding soldier who exemplified the Army’s Core Values: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage.

Newspaper clipping 'The stories of a boxer and a soldier', by Bob Heleringer

This undated newspaper column by Bob Heleringer, published in the Louisville, Kentucky Courier_Journal is interesting for historians because it contains the only know photograph of Sergeant Stout’s posthumous Medal of Honor being presented to Mitchell Stout’s mother on 17 July 1974.

Sergeant Stout’s huge sacrifice and his friend Buddy White’s determination

‘I figured if no one else was going to do it - I’d do it myself’

Annual MCL Detachment 924, Young Marines ceremony honors area hero, local businessman, and all fallen servicemembers in war.

The late Buddy White, a Farragut businessman who was a friend of Mitchell Stout, would not let his bravery go unrewarded or be forgotten. A book about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. gave him the idea to build a memorial to Mitchell Stout. His daughter quoted him to say, ‘I figured if no one else was going to do it, I’d do it myself.’

News Article Farragutpress June 3, 2021 by Alan Sloan

Honors are paid to Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout
during the 2011 Gold Star Mothers trip to Vietnam

Extract from Bob Lauver's journal "Operation Gold Star 2011" page 22-24

Honors are paid
Khe Gio Bridge

We pull onto the turnoff to the left toward J. J. Carroll. This was the home to a Battery of Dusters, Section of Quad Fifties and searchlight jeeps during our time in Vietnam. There is nothing left now but the concrete pad of the mess hall. The Vietnamese have erected an unmaintained memorial to the ARVN Traitors who surrendered the base. The road winds through a pepper plantation and is lined with masonry houses. I took pictures of the mountains to the North so that those who served here could recognize the area. We continued west toward Khe Sanh. The road now has two lanes and is paved. It makes it hard to even recognize it as the road of so many ambushes and so much sorrow. I point out the landmarks of The Rockpile, The Razorback, and Mutter’s Ridge. We passed through Ca Lu and up into the mountains to Khe Sanh. Our time in Khe Sanh was limited by the weather. By the time that Luke, Jerry, and I went through the first section of the museum we were so disgusted by the misinformation and propaganda that we were ready for the bus.

We stopped at a Montagnard Village of the Bru Tribe that was located on the North side of Highway 9 just West of Ca Lu. It had taken several requests to get the driver and the guide to make this stop. We wanted to let the Gold Star Mothers meet the people and children of the village. There were some obvious differences from the Bahnar display community we had
been at in Pleiku. The housing was more of the tradition that I remembered and there were no modern display structures.

Further down the road we stop at the Dau Mau Bridge that was built at the time the highway was reconstructed. To the left were the remains of an older span, one lane to a vehicle of any size. We knew it as the Khe Gio Bridge. We place an American Flag at the end of the old bridge. Luke begins to read the Medal of Honor Citation for Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout, Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 44th Artillery, for actions of 12 March 1970. As Luke read, he was overcome with emotion and was unable to continue, Jerry Ashley helped him finish. Honors was paid by the veterans and the Gold Star Mothers. The flag was marked and collected for the Boston Reunion. As we walk to the bus, Taw (editor note -their guide) relates a story about the Dau Mau Bridge. After the new bridge was in place there was a series of unexplained events. A man on a bicycle stopped and sat on the bridge to have his lunch. He felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned, no one was there. A trucker approached the bridge, as he came onto the bridge he felt a force wrench the wheel and the truck went over the edge. A series of crashes occurred , apparitions were seen, people became afraid to drive on the road. Taw explained that the local community erected a “Spirit House” for joss sticks and offerings. Afterward the events stopped. Jerry, Luke, and I looked at each other and thought; “Mitchell stopped fighting the war”.

On Memorial Day 2023, Future Marines of Greater Knoxville honored fallen U.S. Army Sgt. Mitchell Stout

The Lt. Alexander Bonnyman Marine Corps League Detachment No. 924 and the Young Marines of Greater Knoxville hosted a ceremony to honor U.S. Army Sgt. Mitchell Stout on Monday May 29, 2023.  KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) Television report

Remembering Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout - WLTV News broadcast segment 2022

WLTV News channel 8, East Tennessee News, Knoxville, Tennessee. Television reporter Whitney Turner did a Medal of Honor Moment broadcast segment about Sergeant Mitchell W. Stout on June 16, 2022. This is a valuable archive piece because it includes aerial footage of the Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout Memorial Bridge and video of its accompanying highway sign. It has a quick shot of Sergeant Stout’s Medal of Honor on display at the Charles H. Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, Chattanooga, Tennessee. There is also footage of a Memorial Day honors ceremony at the Sgt. Mitchell W. Stout Medal of Honor Memorial at Virtue Cemetery, and some aerial footage of the memorial. It contains the only known video footage of family album pictures with his sister Melody Woods talking about her brother. There is also a segment done at Stout’s gravesite where you can see the grave of his mother, Mary Faye Thomas, in the background.

The NDQSA archive copy is the news broadcast text (Copyright 2022 WVLT) archived for long term preservation. The NDQSA document also contains screenshots capturing Mitchell Stout’s sisters, Melody and Susan with their family album pictures and memorabilia. Susan is an Associate Member of NDQSA.

DQS_T Stout MOH 155 Army MOH

Mitchell W. Stout - Wikipedia record

Mitchell William Stout (February 24, 1950 – March 12, 1970) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Vietnam War.

Sergeant Stout is not forgotten and continues to be written about in Tennessee

Jerry Summers: Mitchell William Stout - Vietnam Hero

Thursday, October 28, 2021

The next time you have to travel on I-75 to Knoxville to watch the Tennessee Volunteers play or to journey to the Smokies to visit Dollywood, or for any other reasons, slow down and pause for a few moments to identify the small sign on the bridge across the highway in Loudon County and pay homage to another Tennessee hero.