A8
Veterans Day
wallowa.com
November 9, 2016
Wallowa County Chieftain
We salute
Continued from page 1
Stockdale graduated NMMI in 1939 and
entered Oregon State University the follow-
ing fall, majoring in veterinary medicine.
Following Pearl Harbor, Stockdale enlisted
in the Army, as did his brother Oid. Gayle
Stockdale eventually found himself in North
Africa with the 752nd tank battalion, soon
to be one of the most decorated tank battal-
ions of WWII, having received its training
in the California desert from Gen. George
S. Patton. A year later Stockdale was in
Italy driving the German and Italian armies
northward while participating in the capture
of such cities as Rome, Verona and Cecina,
one of the bloodiest battles of the Italian
theater. Defeating the Germans at “The
Rock,” the battalion was later awarded the
85th Infantry Divisional Commendation.
After receiving a battlefield commission to
the rank of Captain, Stockdale took part
in the capture of Bologna, his tank leading
the allied forces into the town. Somewhere
in the action, the young captain earned a
Bronze Star for valor. Stockdale’s tank was hit and burn-
ing. After he’d ordered his crew out to take cover, Stock-
dale, himself wounded, returned to the tank through
intense shelling and rescued its driver, who was left behind
in the vehicle. That was the first of his two Purple Hearts.
The next came while riding in a jeep that was blown out
from under him, killing the driver. Miles from his unit,
two resistance fighters helped him navigate his way back
to his unit, a two-day journey spent mostly crawling while
hiding from German snipers. He later told his daughter
Gay that his first sight upon returning to his unit was the
reason he teared up each time he heard the National An-
them: “I had never seen anything so beautiful as our flag
flying proudly over the commander’s tent ...”
The war ended not long afterward, the 5th Army having
chased the remainder of the German forces high into
the Alps of northern Italy. Stockdale had accumulated a
number of medals, including The Legion of Merit, The
Courtesy Photo/Gay Stockdale
This photo from the military newspaper Stars and
Stripes shows Stockdale’s tank and its crew as it
entered the Italian city of Bologna on 21 April of 1945.
Soldiers Medal, The Bronze Star and a pair of Purple Hearts
along with a promotion to major, but by then, the Wallowa
Mountains were calling him home.
He returned, opening an Enterprise saddle shop. He soon met
Ina Paulson, who owned a nearby coffee shop. The couple mar-
ried in May 1947. They ranched along the North Highway and
raised their daughters Judy LaVerne and Gay LaRaine Stock-
dale (now Bothum and Stockdale, respectively). Both daughters
say the couple greatly respected and loved each other.
“In our entire life, we never witnessed or heard an argument
between them,” Gay Stockdale said.
Continued
Clem and Jean Falbo
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Enterprise
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541-426-3601
84738 JOSEPH HWY • ENTERPRISE
301 W. Main St.
Enterprise
541-426-3177
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wheatlandins.com
Mon-Fri 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. • Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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Electrical Contractors
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Enterprise, OR
541-426-6072
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NORTON’S
K NAPP
W ELDIN G
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lumbing
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always open at www.bookloftoregon.com •
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Main Street
Wallowa
541-886-2309
www.dividecamp.org
P.O. Box 49 • Joseph, OR 97846
SERVING POST 9/11 COMBAT WOUNDED VETERANS