Joe Stone

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Joseph W. Stone (born 1925 in Birmingham) is a retired officer for the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, based in Birmingham.

Stone graduated from Woodlawn High School and then entered the service. Before his classmate Lester Gilley left for basic training, Stone gave him a fatigue cap he had bought at an Army-Navy store in Woodlawn to wear for good luck. Gilley mailed it back after basic and the cap was subsequently worn by 17 other servicemen on their way to training over three generations -- all of whom have returned from duty safe and sound. Stone himself was stationed in Pensacola through the end of World War II.

After the war, Stone attended the University of Alabama, leaving to join the Bureau in the mid-1940s. In the 1950s he was involved in attempts to break up gambling rings in Phenix City. His investigation was scuttled in the aftermath of the assassination of Attorney General Albert Patterson.

He won a performance award in the Bureau for his work in public information - specifically for conceiving of "The Untouchables" as a theme for anti-moonshine posters used nationwide by the agency. He once served as President of the Alabama Peace Officers Association.

Stone has also been also active in civic work, volunteering with Boy Scout Explorer Post 41 in Woodlawn, with the Southside Youth Baseball program, and as a member and president of the Crestwood Civic Club, which named him Mr Crestwood for 1969.

He has two children, Ronny and Dixie.

References

  • "Birmingham lawman wins civic award." (January 26, 1969) Birmingham News. Archived in the Birmingham Public Library's Digital Collections - accessed May 7, 2007.
  • Hickerson, Patrick (November 22, 2001) "Hat Trick: Third generation takes fatigue cap into basic training." Birmingham News.