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Weekly 150: Bill Stout

Marine, Entrepreneur, Leader

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Golston “Bill” Stout was born on May 14, 1936, in Nashville to William Franklin Stout and Etta Mai Hand. His father is deceased and his mother still lives in Nashville. He went to Nashville schools in early life, graduating from Cohn High School. After graduation from high school, Stout had planned to attend college in Cookeville but wound up taking a job with Cain-Sloan Department Stores instead.

He became bored and disillusioned with what he was doing with his life, and set out to make some changes. On his way to work one morning in October 1953, he made a decision pretty much by accident that would change his life dramatically. Bill had decided he could no longer tolerate the work he was doing and decided to join the Navy. But when he got to the recruiting station, it was closed, and that is where his life changed. One door down was the office of the U.S. Marine Corps recruiter.

He decided to go in and check things out. He remembered walking into the recruiting station and standing there waiting for somebody to notice his presence when he heard a familiar voice. That voice asked, “What are you doing here, boy?” When he turned, he recognized a friend from his work at Cain-Sloan, a boy named Everett Yarbrough. Yarbrough commented that he too had decided to join the Marines. Stout and Yarbrough signed up for the Corps together and stayed together for much of the next three years.

They signed up on Monday, took their physical examinations on Tuesday, and left for an uncertain future on Thursday morning of the same week. And for the next several months, they would be anything but bored.

The young men boarded a train in Nashville, bound for Atlanta that would take them to infamous Parris Island, South Carolina. Bill recalled when he and the other 77 recruits got off the bus at what Marines affectionately refer to as “P.I.” his life changed in a big way.

Within seconds of their arrival, the Marine who was to be their Assistant Drill Instructor made his presence known in the most certain of terms. Within very few minutes, Bill began to wonder if he had made the right decision. But he did not ponder that question for very long. The drill instructor soon had them collect what for many years in the Marine Corps was known as a “bucket issue”.

They received shaving gear, soap, and the cleaning equipment used for several weeks, comprising a large steel bucket, a scrub brush, and soap. They were then escorted (herded may be a better word) to their new home, known as a Nathan Hut.

There they would be transformed, according to their drill instructor, from the lowest scum of the earth into Marines - if they managed to make it through boot camp at all. The next morning the recruits received their first Marine Corps haircut, in which the head is transformed pretty much into the same appearance as that of a bowling ball. Not enough hair remained on their heads to pinch between two fingernails.

From well before daylight until whenever the drill instructor tires of “training” his new charges, they are in constant movement. Not a second of that time is wasted; every movement on the part of a Marine “boot” is intended to accomplish something. That something may not be obvious to the recruit at the time, but in retrospect, he or she understands the concept. Over the next few months, Bill underwent a transformation that would change his life forever. From the young civilian who was bored with his life, he was molded into a sharp-looking, sharp-acting military fighter that is to this day feared by his enemies as the most intimidating human in the world-a United States Marine.

Bill recalled on one occasion while they were on the rifle range learning to accurately fire the M-1 Garand rifle they had been issued, somebody in the platoon messed up while they were practicing close-order drill (marching), and they all paid for the mistake. Their drill instructor hollered, one of his favorite phrases, “Down on your haunches!” To the platoon, this meant they would have the privilege of “duck-walking” until the DI decided their debt to the Corps was adequately repaid for the transgression in question.

They duck-walked around the dirt and sand of the swamps that are so prevalent at Parris Island, and finally into the watery swamp itself. They stayed in their crouched position and crawled through the water. If the water happened to be too deep, they were expected to stay underwater as long as they could hold their breath, grab a quick breath, then back into their “haunches” position. By the time this little training exercise was completed, every recruit in the platoon looked like a total disaster, with water, sand, mud, and grass from head to toe.

Then the drill instructor marched his platoon of pitiful-looking young men back to their barracks, night down the middle of the rifle range within sight of other training platoons, and into the showers, clothes and all. As this filthy band of ragamuffins slogged through the range, tired and in a state of confusion as to the benefit of such an exercise, the drill instructor began to sing the Marines Hymn. Immediately the platoon joined in, visibly changing from a slouching position to their backs straight and chests puffed out. They strutted like the full-fledged Marines

Upon completion of their initial training, Bill, Yarbrough, and several others were assigned to Airman Preparatory School at Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida. Then they were transferred to Naval Air Station, Millington, Tennessee, where he was trained as a jet aircraft engine mechanic. Bill was then transferred to Marine Corps Air Station in Cherry Point, North Carolina, and assigned to Marine Instrument Training Squadron.

After a few months at Cherry Point, he became bored with his life and asked for reassignment. He was sent to Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro, California in preparation to send him overseas to Korea. While he was at El Toro, he recalled that he had gone to Hollywood on 24-hour liberty. While on his way back to his base, it occurred to him that he was 18 years old and was 3,000 miles away from his family. He said he had a single “buffalo .. nickel in his pocket. With that nickel, he bought a Tootsie Roll and hitchhiked back to El Toro.

Within 30 days, he boarded the U.S. Navy Ship Marine Phoenix, a troop carrier from World War II days, and spent 20 days en route to Korea, with 3,600 Marines aboard a ship designed to carry 2,400 men. Upon arrival in Korea, they were picked up by an amphibious landing craft near Inchon and subsequently transferred to Pohang, about 200 miles north of Pusan for duty.

After serving 18 months in Korea, he was transferred back to the States, traveling on the USNS E. D. Patrick. The voyage home took eleven days, and he landed at Naval Station, Treasure Island, California, before being sent back to his original unit at Cherry Point. He served the remainder of his enlistment and was discharged in October 1956, with the rank of Sergeant.

When he returned home to Nashville, Bill got a job with Baird-Ward Printing Company, and later a friend helped him get a job with Victor Chemical Company. While working, he attended the University of Tennessee at Nashville, majoring in Chemistry. He attended college at night for seven years, completing the work on his degree.

He later took a position with AVCO, an aviation subcontractor for companies such as Lockheed, Boeing, and ChanceVought His company made parts for the Lockheed C-130 and C-141, the Boeing B-1 bomber, and NASA’s Apollo spacecraft.

At about this time, Bill met his wife, the former Betsy Gateley, who was originally from Atwood. Bill was tired of living in a big city, so when Betsy decided to move back home, Bill moved to Huntingdon. They were married on March 8, 1957. The Stouts have one son, Steve.

In September 1964, Bill opened the first convenience store in Huntingdon. It was called Steve’s Drive-in Market, named for his son Steve. Bill decided to remain open from six o’clock in the morning until 11 p.m. He recalled that his friends thought he was crazy to establish such ridiculous hours of operation. Later he was approached by the owners of another company, offering to sell him a store at Parkers Crossroads. He bought that store, the Crossroad Travel Mart, and kept it for about a year before getting out of the business after eleven years.

In January 1975, he established the Huntingdon Termite and Pest Control Company. He has been in this business for the past 24 years. In this time, he has also gotten involved in politics. He was elected to the Huntingdon Town Council, serving two and one-half terms. He was vice mayor when Mayor Lee Chance died while in office, so Stout filled Chance’s uncompleted term.

Since moving to Huntingdon, Bill Stout has served in the following positions and on boards in this area: town council; vice mayor; mayor; Carroll County Draft Board; Carroll County Industrial Board; Huntingdon Housing Authority; President of the Rotary Club; a member of the Jaycees, and Chairman of the Carroll County Republican Party.