b. 24/02/1950 Knoxville, Tennessee. d. 12/03/1970 Khe Gio Bridge, Vietnam.
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 12/03/1970 Khe Gio Bridge, Vietnam.
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 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 in Battery C, 1st Battalion, 44th Artillery Regiment. On that day, at Khe Gio Bridge in the Republic of Vietnam, Stout picked up an enemy-thrown grenade and used his body to shield his comrades at the expense of his own life.
His posthumous Medal of Honor was presented to his family by Vice President Gerald R. Ford in the courtyard of Blair House, on July 17, 1974.
MOH CITATION:
Sgt. Stout distinguished himself during an attack by a North Vietnamese Army Sapper company on his unit’s firing position at Khe Gio Bridge. Sgt. Stout was in a bunker with members of a searchlight crew when the position came under heavy enemy mortar 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.
BURIAL LOCATION: VIRTUE CEMETERY, CONCORD, TENNESSEE.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: CHARLES H. COOLIDGE MEDAL OF HONOR HERITAGE CENTER, CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE.