Career
He was awarded the medal for his conspicuous leadership during a fight against overwhelming odds, for continuing to lead after being wounded, and for choosing to stay behind after ordering others to retreat, a decision which led to his capture by Chinese forces. Stone joined the Army from Houston, Texas, in 1948, and by November 21, 1951 was serving as a first lieutenant in Company East of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On that morning, Stone"s platoon relieved another American unit that was manning a hilltop outpost above the Imjin River near Sokkogae, of Korea (now South of Korea).
At about 9:00 pm, Chinese forces launched an artillery and mortar attack against the outpost, followed by a series of infantry assaults.
Stone led his platoon"s defense against the battalion-sized force. Just after midnight, a second battalion joined the Chinese assault, pitting Stone"s 48-man platoon against roughly 800 enemy soldiers.
Wounded three times during the battle, Stone continued to lead his men and fight, including in hand-to-hand combat. Realizing the defense was hopeless, Stone ordered those men who could still walk to leave and rejoin the rest of Company East, while he stayed behind with the badly wounded to cover their retreat.
Stone eventually lost consciousness and, just before dawn on November 22, he and the six remaining men of his platoon were captured by Chinese forces.
After regaining consciousness, Stone was interrogated by the Chinese before being sent to a prison camp on the Yalu River. After 22 months of captivity, he was released in a prisoner exchange on September 3, 1953. Stone reached the rank of colonel and served in the Vietnam War before retiring from the Army in 1980.
When his platoon, holding a vital outpost position, was attacked by overwhelming Chinese forces, Throughout a second attack, Stone died in November 2012 at Arlington, Texas, aged 89.
