David L. Stone

David Lamme Stone Jr. (15 August 1876 – 28 December 1959) was a United States Army major general. As a junior officer in 1917, he supervised the creation of Camp Lewis in Washington state. As a general officer in 1936, he returned there to command the 3rd Infantry Division. He held several other commands until retiring in 1940.

Early life and education Stone was born in Stoneville, Mississippi. His parents both died when he was young, so he was raised by an aunt and uncle in nearby Greenville, Mississippi.

Military career Soon after graduation, Stone was sent to Cuba with the 22nd Infantry during the Spanish–American War. His regiment returned to Fort Crook in Nebraska and then was ordered to the Philippines in January 1899.

Major General Robert Lee Bullard, the newly appointed commander of the U.S. Second Army, pictured here with members of his staff at Second Army's headquarters at Toul, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France, October 20, 1918. Stood just behind Bullard is his deputy chief of staff, Colonel David L. Stone.

From June 1905 to August 1907, Stone received experience on construction work with the Quartermaster Department. From April 1909 to April 1912, he served as the constructing quartermaster at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. Stone was then assigned to the 25th Infantry, serving at Fort Lawton in Washington state and commanding a company in Hawaii until June 1915. After successful completion of the construction project, he became division quartermaster for the 3rd Infantry Division in December 1917 at Camp Greene in North Carolina.

When the division was sent to France in May 1918, Stone became an assistant chief of staff and received a temporary promotion to colonel. In September, he was transferred to the Second Army headquarters staff, serving as deputy chief of staff from October 1918 to April 1919, when the headquarters was deactivated. Stone was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his World War I service, the citation for which reads:

After the war, he served as the American Army representative on the Inter-Allied Rhineland Commission until June 1920. From July 1930 to July 1932, Stone commanded the 3rd Infantry Regiment and Fort Snelling in Minnesota. From May to November 1931, he was also acting commanding general of the 14th Infantry Brigade.

From August 1932 to June 1933, Stone taught military science and tactics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign while also commanding the 52nd Infantry Regiment.

Family and later life Stone married Helen Lemon Hoagland (23 September 1876 – 16 March 1929) in 1903 while he was stationed at Fort Omaha in Nebraska. They had two daughters and two sons, but one of the boys died young. After his first wife's death, Stone remarried with divorcée Anita (Thorne) Corse (6 March 1895 – 5 June 1994) on 1 January 1936 at her family's mansion, Thornewood, on American Lake in Lakewood, Washington near Fort Lewis.

After retirement, Stone and his second wife lived at Thornewood, which she had inherited. When his health began to deteriorate, she sold the mansion and they moved to Tacoma, Washington. He died there at the age of 83 and was buried in the Camp Lewis Post Cemetery on 31 December 1959.

Legacy A circle at the center of the Camp Lewis Post Cemetery on Joint Base Lewis–McChord is dedicated to Major General David L. Stone and to all unknown American soldiers who died in active service. The David L. Stone Education Center at the base is also named in his honor.