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Family dedicated to military service
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Published: May 25, 2009
In the Stallings family, serving one's country seems to be a family tradition.
Joe Stallings of Troutman was one of six sons and all six ended up serving in the military.
Stallings' three older brothers all served in World War II, in the U.S. Navy and the Army Air Corps, the precursor to the Air Force. His two younger brothers also served.
When Stallings graduated from high school, World War II was over and Korea was on the horizon.
Stallings decided to attend college on a football scholarship. At college, he joined the ROTC program and after finishing his studies, served a tour in the U.S. Army.
"I liked it, so I decided to stay in," he said.
For the next 30 years, Stallings served in a variety of posts from Korea to Vietnam to Turkey, where he spent most of his career.
Traveling the globe with their military father must have worn off on Stallings' seven children. All served or married someone in the military.
His children, including three daughters, spent time in the military, ranging from the Coast Guard to the Air Force.
His sons also served or are serving in the military.
And some of his children's mates list military service on their resumes.
Now, the military tradition is being passed on to a third generation as three grandchildren are in the service.
It was his children's career in the military that led Stallings to Iredell County when he retired from the Army.
Not wanting to live in his native New Jersey, he began looking for a place between Fort Bragg, N.C., where one son was serving and Fort Campbell, Ky., where another was stationed.
He also wanted a place where he could go fishing.
"I looked on a map and saw a big blue spot and thought that looked good. It happened to be Lake Norman," he said.
His son contacted a real estate agent in Troy, near Badin Lake, but they didn't seem too receptive, so he wound up in Statesville.
After driving around all day with an agent here, he found the exact home he was looking for near Troutman.
"That's where I live now," he said.
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