Funeral for Medal of Honor Recipient James L. Stone Jr.
Dallas, TX Nov. 14, 2012, retired US Army Col. James L. Stone
Sr., 89, a Medal of Honor Recipient, died Nov. 9, 2012 at his Arlington, TX
home, and was laid to rest with full military honors at the Dallas Ft. Worth
National Cemetery.
Friends and family along with a couple of hundred
attendees including Korean War veterans, gathered to pay their final respects to
an extraordinary patriot.
The veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars had
been ill for some time, family friends said.
Besides his wife and son, survivors include son Raymond Stone
of Euless; stepdaughter Amy Rodriguez of Arlington; one grandchild; and two step
grandchildren.
Information and Video by Jerry Castillo / USFallen.org
US Army Col. James L. Stone's Story
At sundown on Nov. 21, 1951, Colonel Stone, then a first lieutenant was
leading about 50 men from the First Cavalry Division of the Eighth Cavalry
Regiment when Chinese forces began firing white phosphorous shells to mark the
American position above the Imjin River, near Sakogae, North Korea. About 9
p.m., after an artillery barrage, Chinese troops swept up the hill.
"Within minutes, the Chinese were nearly on top of Stone's platoon," wrote Peter
Collier in his 2003 book, "Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of
Duty." After the Americans repelled the assault and five others, the Chinese
added another battalion. "The 48 U.S. troops now faced perhaps 800 of the
enemy," Mr. Collier wrote.
Shot twice in the leg and once in the neck,
he carried the platoon's only working machine gun from place to place on the
hilltop and repaired a flamethrower by himself while under fire, according to
his Medal of Honor citation. When it was over, half his unit had been killed and
most of the survivors were wounded.
"Only because of this officer's
driving spirit and heroic action was the platoon emboldened to make its brave
but hopeless last ditch stand," the citation states. The next day, advancing
American troops found hundreds of enemy soldiers dead. But they didn't find Lt.
Stone.
Captured along with six other survivors, Lt. Stone spent 22 months
in a prisoner-of-war camp near the Manchurian border. He was freed in September
1953.
"You can't imagine what it's like to see that flag again. It's like
being reborn," Col. Stone said in a Star-Telegram interview. "It really makes
you appreciate your country."
He went on to serve in Germany, was in
charge of ROTC units in Fort Worth during the mid-1960s and did a tour of duty
in Vietnam in 1971.
"He always tried to instill in the young folks, 'Of course
you're patriotic and you're doing this for the right reasons,'" Carr said. "But
he'd also say you should enjoy your time in the service, wear your uniform
around."
The Rev. David Mosser, senior pastor of First United Methodist
Church of Arlington, said Col. Stone "was a very faithful church member. And he
was a celebrity -- an outgoing, gregarious, friendly kind of human being."
James Lamar Stone was born Dec. 27, 1922, in Pine Bluff, Ark., and grew up
in Hot Springs. He studied chemistry and zoology at the University of Arkansas,
where he was in the Army's Reserve Officers' Training Corps.
He graduated
with a bachelor's degree and worked for General Electric in Houston before being
called to active duty in 1948. He was sent to Korea in March 1951 and was
repatriated in September 1953 in a prisoner exchange. A month later, on Oct. 27,
1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower presented the medal to him and six other
men.
He retired from the Army after nearly 30 years and went to work with
his son, James Stone Jr., in the home-building business.
He and Mary
Stone met after Col. Stone had retired from the Army. She said she didn't know
about the Medal of Honor until after the wedding.
"He was a humble person
and didn't talk about that part to me," she said.
Last year, 60 years
after the battle at Sokkogae, the Army 90th Aviation Support Battalion in Fort
Worth dedicated the Col. James L. Stone U.S. Army Reserve Center in his honor.
Korean War veterans joined soldiers and Stone's family to honor him.
Funeral for Medal of Honor Recipient
