Earl "Bill" Stoddard - Korea

Stories from Brother Bill Stoddard in the Army;

Bill Stoddard was drafted into the army in April of 1951. His first 11 months were spent in Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland where they went through basic training and were thoroughly instructed in radar. They hadn't been there long when two Master Sergeants came in. On each of their shoulders was a patch with an axe splitting a rail which showed they were Combat Engineers. One of those guys ended up as their First Sergeant.

In the morning when the Company fell out for formation, this new First Sergeant let them know they were nothing but dirt. He had a voice like sandpaper and was as mean as nails. When they had roll call, they had to yell, "Here Sergeant!"

When they did that, ye yelled, "That is not GOOD enough! You yell, Here Sergeant SIR!"

When he got to Bill, he yelled, "STODDARD!"

Bill said, "Here Sergeant, SIR!"

He said, "Report to the orderly room IMMEDIATELY after this formation."

Bill wondered, "What did I do wrong? Was it cause I chewed out that PFC that was bossing me around?"

Bill was shaking like a leaf when he reported to his office. When he got in there the Sergeant said, "Where are you from?"

Bill said, "Salt Lake City, Utah, Sir."

He said, "Do you know Dean Stoddard?"

Bill said, "Yes sir. He's my brother."

The Sergeant said, "You'll NEVER be the soldier he was." Then Bill remembered Dean had a patch on his uniform with an axe splitting a rail that indicated he was a combat engineer, just like this Master Sergeant.

Come to find out, this Sergeant was in the same outfit with Dean. He treated Bill real good after that, but he wasn't open about it at all. He pretended like he was chewing him out. He knew if the other guys knew Bill was getting special privileges, they would come down on him.

Bill spent the next 14 months working with the guided missile program, eventually becoming an instructor.