Appalachian Figures
George Raymond Stotser was born on April 21, 1935, in Lawrenceburg, the seat of Lawrence County in southern Middle Tennessee. His parents, Garold Morton Stotser and Retha Marie Aker, had made their way south a few years earlier from the Midwest, part of a quiet migration that tied Iowa farm country to the hills and ridges of Tennessee.
A RootsWeb compilation on the Iowa branch of the Stotser family notes that Garold was born in Kansas in 1906, grew up in Iowa, and moved his young family to Lawrenceburg in 1929. The same source lists four children in the Lawrenceburg household: Billie JoAnn, Don Morton, George Raymond, and Patsy Kaye. Later obituaries for Joann Abbott and Don Morton Stotser confirm the parents’ names, place the family firmly in Lawrenceburg, and name George as one of the siblings, tying the military three star back to a specific Lawrence County kitchen table.
The Dignity Memorial obituary for Lieutenant General (Retired) George R. Stotser remembers him as the youngest of the four children, born in Lawrenceburg in 1935 and raised by parents who had already shouldered the economic uncertainty of the Depression and the move south. That rural Tennessee upbringing on the edge of the Highland Rim does not always make national histories, yet it shaped the values that friends and family remember: a serious work ethic, faith, and deep loyalty to kin and community.
“Generals Start Here”: Middle Tennessee State and ROTC
Like many Appalachian and border South families after the Second World War, the Stotsers saw college and military service as intertwined ladders of opportunity. George attended Middle Tennessee State College, now Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), in Murfreesboro. There he enrolled in Army ROTC, joined a long line of Tennessee cadets, and met fellow student Dorothy Anne Lewis, who would become his wife of sixty six years.
Official Army records are unusually clear about his education and early career. The General Officer Management Office “Resume of Service Career” for Lieutenant General George Raymond Stotser notes that he earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Middle Tennessee State and received his commission via ROTC, with an appointment as a second lieutenant of infantry dated 1 June 1956. Later, after combat and staff tours, he returned to his alma mater for graduate study, completing a Master of Science in Education in June 1971, again documented in the official résumé and echoed in biographical summaries.
MTSU’s Army ROTC program today proudly lists “LTG George Stotser, 1956, Retired” among its general officer alumni, a quiet line on a university homepage that represents decades of work and thousands of soldiers led overseas. For Appalachian and Middle Tennessee students, ROTC has long been a bridge between home places and national service, and George Stotser’s path from Lawrenceburg to Murfreesboro to Fort Benning is one of the clearest examples of that bridge at mid century.
Learning the Trade: Infantry Schools and Early Assignments
The GOMO résumé shows that new Lieutenant Stotser went almost immediately from MTSU to the Infantry School at Fort Benning for the Basic Infantry Officer Course, then to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, where he served as a platoon leader and staff officer in several airborne units. These early roles marked him as a paratrooper and field soldier first, part of a generation of southern and Appalachian officers who cut their teeth in elite infantry divisions.
In the early 1960s he returned to Fort Benning to complete the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, then served as an instructor, teaching operations, attack, communications, and intelligence at the Infantry School. It is easy to focus on stars and high command, but these years as a company grade officer and teacher mattered. They placed a Tennessee born captain in front of young officers from across the country and paired his regional experience with the emerging doctrine of the Cold War Army.
The official résumé also records early service in Europe with the 24th Infantry Division, where he moved through positions as platoon leader, company commander, and staff officer. For a boy who grew up in Lawrenceburg, the first assignment to Germany meant a long way from home, but it also foreshadowed a career in which the Federal Republic and the Fulda Gap would become familiar ground.
Vietnam: Two Tours and a Hard Education in War
George Stotser’s name appears in both official documents and professional journals linked to the Vietnam War. According to his service résumé, he attended the Naval Command and Staff Course at the U.S. Naval War College in 1965–66, just as the American war in Vietnam escalated. He then deployed to Vietnam, serving as operations officer (S 3) of the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry and later as assistant G 3 of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile).
By 1969 he had returned for a second tour, this time as commander of the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, and later as the division G 3 for the 1st Cavalry Division. It was not desk soldiering. His official decorations list includes the Silver Star, multiple awards of the Distinguished Service Medal and Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and numerous Air Medals, all earned in a period when Vietnam and Cold War contingencies defined an officer’s combat résumé.
Stotser also thought and wrote about what he was seeing. In a 1968 issue of Military Review, Major George R. Stotser co authored a piece on division level “Plans and Operations” with then Lieutenant Colonel John R. Galvin, a future NATO Supreme Allied Commander. The article examined how a division staff had to think about operations in Vietnam’s difficult terrain and political context, and the author biography tied Stotser to the 1st Cavalry Division’s operations staff. That mixture of practical command, high level staff work, and published reflection runs through his later career in Europe and at Fifth Army.
Shaping Soldiers: The Sergeants Major Academy and Fort Benning
After Vietnam, Stotser completed the U.S. Army War College and then moved into roles that shaped how the Army trained its noncommissioned officers and combined arms leaders. The GOMO résumé shows that from 1972 to 1974 he served at Fort Bliss, Texas, as Director of Instruction and later Deputy Commandant of the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy, the capstone school for senior NCOs.
A separate historical outline of the Sergeants Major Academy lists “Col George R. Stotser, President, Combined Arms Training Board, Fort Benning, Georgia” as a guest speaker in June 1977, reflecting his subsequent move to Fort Benning as president of the Combat Arms Training Board. In those positions he had unusual influence over curricula and standards at a moment when the post draft, all volunteer Army was trying to rebuild professionalism after Vietnam.
For Appalachian and rural southern soldiers, those institutions often provided their first sustained schooling beyond basic training. A Lawrenceburg native who had walked the same path from small town to training base helped decide how sergeants would be educated and what combined arms battle would look like for another generation.
The Road to General: Pentagon, Joint Staff, and Promotion
By the late 1970s, George Stotser’s career had shifted into the upper echelons of the Army. The official résumé lists his assignments in Washington as Chief of the Regional Operations Division and then Assistant Director of the Operations and Readiness Directorate on the Army staff, followed by service as Deputy Director of Operations in the National Military Command Center, J 3, on the Joint Staff.
During this period his promotions moved into flag rank. The résumé records his appointment as brigadier general on 1 June 1979, major general on 1 August 1983, and lieutenant general on 12 June 1987. A 1981 entry in the Congressional Record lists “Stotser, George R.” among officers nominated to be brigadier general, while a 1987 Senate Executive Calendar entry shows “Maj. Gen. George R. Stotser” nominated to the grade of lieutenant general under Title 10, United States Code, section 601, in conjunction with assignment to a position of importance.
These procedural documents are dry, but they are primary proof that a boy from Lawrence County had entered the three star tier of the Army, subject to Senate advice and consent.
Germany and the Front Lines of the Cold War
From the mid 1970s forward, Germany became the center of George Stotser’s professional world. According to the GOMO résumé and subsequent German language biographies, he served from 1974 to 1976 as commander of the 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division in United States Army Europe.
In 1982 he returned to Germany as commanding general of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Armored Division (Forward), a unique heavy brigade stationed in northern Germany that also commanded other U.S. forces in the region. From 1983 to 1985 he served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations (G 3) at Headquarters, U.S. Army Europe and Seventh Army in Heidelberg, the staff post that linked field training to theater wide plans.
In 1985 he took command of the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) in Würzburg, Germany, the storied “Rock of the Marne” division. The Dignity Memorial obituary notes that this was his favorite assignment and quotes the family’s memory that “he loved every minute of being a Dogface Soldier,” the nickname for 3rd Infantry troops.
From 1987 to 1989, German sources and the official résumé agree that Stotser served as Deputy Commander in Chief of United States Army Europe, again headquartered in Heidelberg. Contemporary press coverage in the United States, including a Los Angeles Times piece on his selection to head Army forces in Europe, reflected how visible his role had become as NATO navigated the final, tense years of the Cold War.
Fifth Army, Desert Shield, and the Home Front
In September 1989, Lieutenant General George R. Stotser assumed command of Fifth United States Army at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, a fact documented both in his official résumé and in Army organizational and structure references for 1989–91. Fifth Army’s traditional role centered on training, mobilization, and contingency support for forces in the western and central United States.
That meant that when Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait in August 1990 and Operation Desert Shield began, Fifth Army played a critical part in preparing and mobilizing Army National Guard and Army Reserve units. One set of mobilization orders for the 1st Battalion, 158th Field Artillery, Oklahoma Army National Guard, for example, cites “Permanent Orders 147 60 dated 16 November 1990” from Headquarters, Fifth United States Army and Fort Sam Houston, issued “By order of Lieutenant General George R. Stotser.”
The official U.S. Army history From the Fulda Gap to Kuwait: U.S. Army, Europe and the Gulf War situates Stotser within a network of senior commanders who linked European based forces, stateside training commands, and deploying units during the Gulf War period. The 1990–1991 Government Organization Manual entry for the Department of the Army lists “LT. GEN. GEORGE R. STOTSER” among the senior officers, further confirming his position in the Army’s hierarchy at the end of the Cold War.
Retirement and a Return to Family
Senate records and Army documents show that Lieutenant General Stotser retired from active duty on 31 July 1991, with more than thirty five years of commissioned service. The GOMO résumé gives that retirement date explicitly, while later executive calendars and a 1991 Senate document record the nomination actions associated with placing him on the retired list.
After retirement, he and Dot settled in Columbus, Georgia, near Fort Benning, where he had begun his journey as a young infantry officer and instructor. The Fort Moore Main Post Cemetery roster and a Columbus news reference both list him among the general officers buried there, connecting his life story back to the red clay training ground of the Infantry School.
The 2022 obituary paints a picture of a man who never quite stopped mentoring. It describes him as a “Soldier’s Soldier” who especially cherished his time with the 3rd Infantry Division, but also as a husband, father, and grandfather who treated family life as his most important work. It notes his sons Ron and Rick, his grandsons and great grandson, and his support for the International Leadership Institute, a Christian mission organization, in his later years.
Lieutenant General (Retired) George Raymond Stotser died on July 1, 2022, in Columbus at the age of 87. His burial with full military honors at Fort Benning’s Main Post Cemetery closed a circle that began in Lawrenceburg and passed through Murfreesboro, Fort Bragg, Vietnam, Germany, and Texas.
An Appalachian Edge to a Global Career
Strictly speaking, Lawrence County sits on the western edge of what many people think of as Appalachian Tennessee. Yet the social world that produced George Stotser is deeply familiar across the mountain South: families who moved for work, who valued education even when money was scarce, and who saw military service as a path to both responsibility and opportunity.
His story also reminds us that “Appalachian history” does not stop at the ridgeline. For three and a half decades, a Tennessee born ROTC graduate helped shape how the U.S. Army fought in Vietnam, trained its noncommissioned officers, planned its European defenses, and mobilized National Guard units from Oklahoma and across the country for the Gulf War. His life stands as one more example of how people from Appalachian and near Appalachian communities carried their local values into the most global corners of the twentieth century American military.
If you knew Lieutenant General Stotser or his family, or if you have photographs, letters, or stories from his Lawrenceburg or MTSU years, I would be glad to hear from you as we continue to document the lives of Tennessee and Appalachian soldiers whose service reached far beyond home.
Sources & Further Reading
Most of the career chronology in this article comes from the official “Resume of Service Career of George Raymond Stotser, Lieutenant General,” compiled by the General Officer Management Office of the U.S. Army and now hosted by Middle Tennessee State University. MTSU+1
Primary government records for his promotions and retirement include entries in the Congressional Record and U.S. Senate Executive Calendars from 1981, 1987, 1989, and 1991, along with the 1990–1991 Government Organization Manual for the Department of the Army. Army API+4GovInfo+4U.S. Senate+4
The Dignity Memorial obituary “Lieutenant General Retired George R. Stotser (April 21, 1935 – July 1, 2022)” and the Find a Grave memorial for “LTG (Ret) George Raymond Stotser (1935–2022)” provide family details, dates, and reflections on his character, while the Fort Moore Main Post Cemetery listing confirms his burial in the Main Post Cemetery. Wikipedia+3Dignity Memorial+3Dignity Memorial+3
Genealogical context for the Stotser family’s move from Iowa to Lawrenceburg and for George’s siblings comes from RootsWeb’s “Iowa Stotsers” page, FamilySearch profiles for Garold Morton Stotser and Retha Marie Aker, and obituaries for Joann S. Abbott and Don Morton Stotser. WikiTree+6Freepages RootsWeb+6FamilySearch+6
European assignments and command chronology are cross checked in the English and German Wikipedia entries for George R. Stotser, the WürzburgWiki biography, and U.S. Army Europe related histories, including Stephen P. Gehring’s From the Fulda Gap to Kuwait: U.S. Army, Europe and the Gulf War. Wikipedia+2Wikipedia+2
Additional contemporary and near primary sources include the Military Review article on division plans and operations co authored by Major George R. Stotser, archival issues and indexes of the 24th Infantry Division Association’s Taro Leafnewsletter documenting his appointment as Assistant Division Commander at Fort Stewart, historical outlines of the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy, and Gulf War era mobilization orders issued by Fifth Army. Scribd+4Army University Press+424thida.com+4