4 minute read
Heroes' Welcome
Vietnam War soldier and WWII sailor honored at special salutes to service to help remember veterans’ bravery
by Andrew Oppmann and Randy Weiler
Taking military-connected families out to the ballpark, raceway, or auditorium is a major way MTSU’s Daniels Center connects to veterans and then helps them access their rightful benefits—regardless of whether they have any link to the University.
Recognition of their service and special presentations to honor heroes are also key to the mission at these free-admission events in the greater Nashville area.
Highly decorated Vietnam War veteran Horace N. Stogner Jr. and D-Day survivor Bill Allen, for example, rank among those who have been recognized at Nashville Sounds baseball games saluting current and former U.S. military members.
Stogner, recognized at the Sounds’ Salute to Armed Forces game presented by MTSU on the eve of Memorial Day 2025, earned a Silver Star, four Bronze Stars (three for valor), and three Purple Hearts after deploying to Vietnam in the 1960s. Initially in the infantry after enlisting at age 17, he suffered a severe head wound from a mortar shell in 1968, marking his second Purple Heart, and returned in country with the 110th Cavalry before being shot again.
Allen, honored at the Sounds’ Military Appreciation Night in 2024 to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day, was a 19-year-old Navy corpsman on June 6, 1944. His World War II landing craft made three round trips on D-Day to the beaches of Normandy, France, carrying tanks, troops, and trucks to the shore and bringing back the dead to the fleet. On the fourth trip, his ship hit an underwater mine, killing 117 sailors, with only Allen and 27 others surviving
“I never expected anything like this,” Allen said of the warm reception by Sounds fans, players, and coaches.
Allen’s daughter, Patti Hutchinson; his son-in-law Glen Hutchinson; grandson Will Hutchinson; and great-grandson Van Hutchinson were with the 99-year-old veteran at the game.
MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee and LTG(R) Keith Huber, the University’s senior advisor for veterans and leadership initiatives, invited Allen and his family to take part in the event, which also coincided with True Blue Night at the Sounds.“I never expected anything like this,” Allen said of the warm reception by Sounds fans, players, and coaches.
“It was an honor to host Mr. Allen, meet his family, listen to his account of that fateful day 80 years ago, and show our appreciation for his service and sacrifice,” McPhee said.
Stogner, a North Carolina native now living at the Adams Place senior community, took summer classes to graduate from high school early in order to enlist and needed parental approval since he was underage. He arrived in the Republic of Vietnam in April 1966 and joined the Army’s 1st Battalion/7th Cavalry Regiment.
Sent stateside again per policy after his third Purple Heart, Stogner graduated from Brigham Young University in 1971 after his first term of service and met his future wife, Catherine, at Duke University. But his military service didn’t end there. He reenlisted in 1972, received a direct commission as an officer in 1974, and became a top-rated jumpmaster.
Stogner commanded a reconnaissance unit for the 82nd Airborne in Granada, commanded Airborne School at Fort Benning, and was a Pathfinder—a highly specialized soldier tasked with preparing the area for airborne operations and providing navigational support to the aircraft.
Following his retirement from military service in 1996 as a captain, the Stogners moved to Murfreesboro, where he worked as an academic advisor for 10 years in MTSU’s Academic Support Center and Catherine Stogner served as an associate professor in the MTSU Department of Human Sciences before they retired.
Through the partnership with the MTSU Daniels Center, the Sounds also auction off special military jerseys worn during the service appreciation games and have specialty related items for purchase. The jersey auctions have raised over thousands of dollars to benefit the center in its mission to “serve all veterans and military-connected students and families through a variety of services to succeed academically, professionally, and personally,” Huber said.
It’s yet another way to give back to those who gave so much and help others remember their service and sacrifices.
