Published: July 02, 2008 04:59 pm         

Kimberly man expresses pride in son's military experience

By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



Stuart Hitt said there’s one thing that can make a grown man cry.

“You’ll see a 48-year-old man shedding tears,” said Hitt recently when asked if he was proud of his son who returned from Iraq in December.

“I’m very proud of my boys,” Hitt said.

Army Sgt. Justin Neal Hitt is the youngest son of Stuart and the late Teresa Hitt, of Kimberly. He is younger brother by one year to James Bradley “Brad” Hitt.

Justin Hitt, who has been in the Army five years, served a 15-month tour in Iraq from September 2006 to December 2007.

“Most of the time he couldn’t tell me what he was doing or where he was,” said Stuart Hitt. “I would read the paper. Anybody that got hurt or killed over there, especially from Alabama, it worried me. I’m a parent, so I’m going to worry.”

Hitt said he made it through the months of worrying with the support of friends and family.

“We just talked a lot,” said Hitt. “We said our prayers. You just keep your fingers crossed and say a little prayer. Not just for him, but for all of them.”

Hitt said his son was on many people’s prayer lists.

He also had Justin’s picture on the bulletin board at work at ABC Coke, a division of Drummond Coal Company, Inc., of Tarrant.

Sgt. Hitt graduated from Locust Fork High School in 2001. Currently stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, Hitt has also been assigned to Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Rucker, Ala.; South Korea; and Fort Campbell, Ky.

Although he couldn’t reveal details of his work during the deployment to Iraq, Hitt served as an aviation operations non-commissioned officer (NCO), according to information provided by the Army.

Many of the aircraft he deployed were medical flights that helped evacuate wounded soldiers.

He dispatched aircraft, kept in constant communication with aircraft, tracked flights and briefed the battalion commander, according to the press release.

Sgt. Hitt did get a break from the war in December 2006. The military allowed him to go home to see his son, Hayden Hitt, enter the world.

“He came home when his son was born, then he went back on Christmas day,” said Hitt.

Sgt. Hitt, a member of the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, is stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. His wife, Melissa Ann Bailey of Allgood, Ala., and son are with him at Fort Hood.

Sgt. Hitt’s mother, Teresa Hitt, died June 26, 1996, after having an aneurism.

“I tried to raise him the best I could,” said Hitt. “That really took a toll on him and his older brother.”

Hitt is married now to Leigh Ann Hitt, a woman that he and his sons have known for many years.

“I’m just proud of all the men and women over there,” said Hitt. “They’re doing their duty. I want them all to come back safely.”