Mitchell William Stout (February 24, 1950 – March 12, 1970) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

—for his actions in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

Biography

Stout was one of at least three children. Stout enjoyed fast cars, country music, fishing, and hunting. At age 17, Mitchell Stout dropped out of Lenoir City High School in North Carolina and enlisted in the Army from

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

in August 1967. He successfully completed paratrooper school before the Army discharged him after discovering his real age. By the time he was discharged, Stout was already 18 years old and immediately re-enlisted. Stout served as a Squad Leader. According to Stout’s sister, Melody Woods, “love for his guys is what led him to volunteer for a second tour. He felt like he could offer them more than somebody that hadn’t been there before. That maybe he could help somebody”. By March 12, 1970, was serving as a

Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

in Battery C, 1st Battalion, 44th Artillery Regiment. On that day, at Khe Gio Bridge in the

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with it ...

, Stout picked up an enemy-thrown grenade and used his body to shield his comrades at the expense of his own life. Stout, aged 20 at his death, was buried in Virtue Cemetery,

Farragut, Tennessee Farragut is a suburban town located in Knox and Loudon counties in the State of Tennessee, United States. The town's population was 23,506 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. The town is named in honor of U ...

Medal of Honor citation

Sergeant Stout's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

Sgt. Stout distinguished himself during an attack by a
North Vietnamese Army The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN), officially the Vietnam People's Army (VPA; , , ), also recognized as the Vietnamese Army (), the People's Army () or colloquially the Troops ( ), is the national Military, military force of the Vietnam, S ...

Sapper A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses ...
company on his unit's firing position at Khe Gio Bridge. Sgt. Stout was in a
bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...
with members of a
searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely luminosity, bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a part ...
crew when the position came under heavy enemy
mortar Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...
fire and ground attack. When the intensity of the mortar attack subsided, an enemy grenade was thrown into the bunker. Displaying great courage, Sgt. Stout ran to the grenade, picked it up, and started out of the bunker. As he reached the door, the grenade exploded. By holding the grenade close to his body and shielding its blast, he protected his fellow soldiers in the bunker from further injury or death. Sgt. Stout's conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action, at the cost of his own life, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the U.S. Army.

Other

The 1st Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Battalion Headquarters in Fort Cavazos, Tx. is named in his honor. The gym on main post

Fort Bliss Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Established in 1848, the fort was renamed in 1854 to honor William Wallace Smith Bliss, Bvt.Lieut.Colonel William W.S. Bliss (1815–1853 ...

is also named in his honor. SGT Stout is the only

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

Air Defense Artillerymen to earn the Medal of Honor. In 2024, the M-SHORAD air defense vehicle based on the

Stryker The Stryker is a family of Eight-wheel drive, eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicles derived from the Canadian LAV III. Stryker vehicles are produced by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada (GDLS-C) for the United States Army in a plant in L ...

platform was officially named after Stout.https://www.army.mil/article/277291/army_names_the_m_shorad_after_vietnam_war_medal_of_honor_recipient

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stout, Mitchell W. 1950 births 1970 deaths United States Army Medal of Honor recipients Military personnel from Knoxville, Tennessee United States Army non-commissioned officers Vietnam War recipients of the Medal of Honor Deaths by hand grenade United States Army personnel killed in the Vietnam War

Biography

Medal of Honor citation

Other

See also

Notes

References