CSM (R) Joe Stout

CSM (R) Joe Stout sat down with me for Heroes I Know. The Airborne Messiah. Command sergeant major of 108th ADA Brigade and of 3-4 ADAR. Great American.

Trenton, New Jersey. Then Tennessee between sophomore and junior year. He wanted to play drums like John Bonham. His aunt drove him to Tennessee Tech. He wanted the class that said sit behind the drums. That is not how a music degree works. The Marines would not give him a guaranteed contract. The Army would. MANPADS. Five-thousand-dollar bonus. Guaranteed 82nd.

Stinger platoon. Waiting on a formation. About five minutes. Ray Hargrove, wildly sarcastic, looked at him and said you are the Airborne Messiah. They all laughed it off. A week later T-Bone and the rest of the battery had already made it a name. Alaska later. His lieutenant opened the door at four in the morning, looked at his wife, and said my platoon sergeant is Buzz Lightyear. I come in peace. Both stuck.

The nineties. JRTC. Charlie Battery. Then the sergeant major years. Cold steel. Prepare to move forward. He still does the salute and the sign-out. Gordonville, Tennessee, by way of Trenton.

He plays drums in church now. Riley. Jocelyn. He said there is nothing better than serving this country, and nothing better than playing a service knowing it blesses somebody. Thank you, Messiah. That is why we hit record. Get the story on tape before we are too old or too sick to tell it.