LTC. Gary Stanko
U.S. Army Reserves – JAG Corps
Staff Judge Advocate
3rd Transportation Brigade
Alabama, U.S.
1971 – 1995
U.S. Army Reserves – JAG Corps
Staff Judge Advocate
3rd Transportation Brigade
Alabama, U.S.
1971 – 1995
Gary Stanko was born in Steubenville, Ohio on September 9, 1949. He was born into a 2nd generation Czechoslovakian family. His grandparents immigrated to the United States and came through Ellis Island in the early 1900s. Gary’s grandfather worked in a coal mine until he landed a job in a local steel mill in Steubenville. Gary’s father was the oldest of four boys. One brother served in the 8th Air Force and another brother served in an artillery battery during World War II. Gary’s father was classified as 4F due to a shoulder injury. “He ended up driving semi-truck hauling military goods from Pittsburgh to New England.”
In junior high school Gary showed academic promise and his parents decided to send him to the Linsly Military Institute in Wheeling West Virginia, today known as the Linsly School. The tuition to the school was going to be a financial hardship until Gary’s uncle John sold his beer distributorship in Dayton, Ohio for $1,000,000. “Back when a million bucks was a million bucks.”
The school had a rigorous college preparatory program. “The first year was tough because I was kinda homesick. But I sucked it up and made it through. After my freshman year, I really liked it.” Gary’s grades were good enough to earn him acceptance to Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.
Just before Gary left for his freshman year at Furman, he was visited his uncle in Myrtle Beach. His uncle told him that his friend had a daughter, Jeannie Floyd, who had a friend who needed a date for a dance. Gary said he would be happy to go. As it turned out he really hit off with Jeannie and they remained friends. More on that later.
In 1968 Furman required all male freshman to join the ROTC. After sophomore year the men could decide if they wanted to go on to Advanced ROTC. Gary elected to continue with Advanced ROTC and made that decision one day before the drawing of the selective service lottery. The Lottery was part of the military draft at the time to support the personnel needs of the Vietnam War. Gary wanted some level of control over where he might be sent and thought, “I guess it’s better to go in as an officer rather than as a private.”
In the summer of 1970, the Advanced ROTC program sent Gary to boot camp at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. “We lived in these old barracks up on a place called Smoke Bomb Hill…it was rickety and run down. “We were so tired at the end of each day” from the training. “They issued us a wool blanket in the middle of the summer in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and you’re crawling under a wool blanket to stay warm because you were so tired from the training.” There Gary learned how to use various weapons and about small team leadership.
In 1971 Gary graduated from Furman with a degree in Business. He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant and assigned to the Transportation Corps. Gary wanted to attend law school and the Army accommodated his wish. Gary went on to attend the University of South Carolina Law School and graduated in 1974. Upon graduation the Army gave him orders to report to Fort Eustis for 90 days of additional training.
Gary passed the bar exam and began working for an attorney in the Mrytle Beach area in South Carolina. His first taste of practicing law was not what he expected. The lawyer didn’t make a good impression on Gary. “He was strange. I had to leave him. We had a mutual understanding. He was having trouble making payroll and I’m thinking this doesn’t make sense. There was something about him that just didn’t jive.” Gary called the Army and offered to complete the time he owed the Army by going active duty as a lawyer, or JAG officer. They Army agreed and in July of 1975 Gary went to Fort Pickett located in Fort Lee in Virginia for “basic indoctrination because half of the people in this very small group, JAG school, had never had any military experience.”
Gary recalled one occasion on the rifle range at Fort Pickett. “We were in these concrete foxholes…and a lady attorney had her M16 jam. She points the rifle right at me and says, ‘my rifle’s jammed, what do I do?” Gary hit the bottom of the concrete foxhole like a ton of bricks.
Gary recalled patrolling through the woods in the middle of a very dark night and a 22-year-old solider, fresh from college with no military experience, suggested it was only fair that he led the patrol for a while. The group reached a stream approximately 10 feet wide and the young officer asked the group how deep the stream was. Gary said, “why don’t you just wade in”. The soldier took three steps and disappeared under the water. “We grabbed his web gear and shirt and pulled him out.”
The next stop for Gary was Charlottesville, Virginia where the Army’s law school was located next to the University of Virginia Law School. From August through October the JAG officers learned about military law, the military code of justice, international law, the law of war and the treatment of prisoners. “One day this crazy Marine JAG comes in and says, ‘we need six of you guys to go to airborne training.’” Gary said he heard a small voice inside him, God he thought, telling him to go to airborne school. Gary raised his hand and was selected to jump out of otherwise perfectly good airplanes.
Over the next three weeks Gary successfully completed five jumps without injury. “I carried a New Testament and Psalms in my left fatigue shirt pocket. I would constantly read Romans 8:28.” Gary was now an airborne lawyer.
After becoming airborne qualified Gary reported to Fort McClellan in Birmingham, Alabama where he would serve as an instructor teaching law to Military Police (MP) investigators. Gary held this position for several years and earned the designation from the students as a distinguished instructor.
Gary’s next assignment was to analyze and approve claims for military personnel that had personal property lost or damaged moving between posts. He also investigated claims made against the Army by persons who were killed or injured by military personnel or equipment. “I had to investigate the background, was it military related, who was at fault. It was like an insurance adjuster.”
Gary left active duty in 1975 and went into the private practice of law but remained in the reserves. He used his GI Bill to attend the University of Alabama and earned a Master’s of Law Degree in Taxation in 1979. He was working with a small law firm in South Carolina, but it wasn’t a good fit for him. His commander in the reserves told him about a job with the IRS and suggested he apply. Gary applied and was hired to work in the Chief Counsel’s office. “I did some interesting things in the couple of years I was there.”
In 1982 Gary’s aunt ran into Jeannie Floyd’s mother at the grocery store. They swapped stories on what Gary and Jeannie were up to. Jeannie had earned a two-year degree in nursing, married, had two children and divorced. Gary was still single and was recovering from retina surgery. Jeannie sent Gary a get well card and he called to thank her. One call led to another and soon Gary was flying to Charlotte, North Carolina to visit her while she was studying to get her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing. In 1984 the couple was married.
In 1985 Gary passed the CPA exam. He moved from the IRS back into a private law firm practice in Anniston, Alabama where he developed a strong tax, wills, and estates practice. He became a partner and when the firm split and he and another lawyer formed their own firm, Isom and Stanko. Later it became Stanko and Setter. “I tried a couple of cases in front of a tax court judge and against U.S. attorneys. I won both of them so, taxpayers saved some money.”
Gary recounted one of the most memorable matters he was ever involved in. Gary’s firm represented a significant real estate developer in the Anniston area. Gary encouraged this client, who we call Mr. X, to have a will. “Well, he would never do it and one day he just up and died.” He died without a will, and Mr. X’s only known heir was his wife. “Well, about six months later…the receptionist calls and says there is a young man in the lobby, and he says he is Mr. X Jr. Well, that can’t be, Mr. X never had any kids.”
Gary’s partner went to the lobby, and the man introduces himself as Mr. X Jr. After some discussion he produced a photo of Mr. X at his wedding. It seems that Mr. X had been living two lives with two wives and he had children with the second wife in Florida. “It took us 11 years to administer his estate.”
In 1991 Iraq invaded Kuwait and the 3rd Transportation Brigade was activated and deployed to Kuwait the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The JAG officers did not deploy but they were responsible to help the soldiers that were deploying to complete their wills and power of attorney. That was not much of a Thanksgiving for the U.S. military.
By 1995 Gary had reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and to be promoted to Colonel he would need to relocate to New Orleans, Florida or Memphis. Gary elected pursue his very active law practice and retire from the Army Reserves.
Gary was an active tennis player and developed knee pain. The pain worsened and he decided to have a knee replacement. After the surgery it never felt quite right although he was back to playing tennis. The doctor was concerned with infection, but it was never detected in any tests. Eventually the doctor decided to take out the knee replacement and substitute a spacer. “A spacer is a kind of knee replacement but its covered totally with antibiotics.” With the new spacer Gary remained active but seven years later problems developed.
On Halloween of 2020 Gary arrived home from work and made himself some dinner. When he tried to stand up he couldn’t. The doctors elected to put in another spacer, but it didn’t last long and it snapped in half. That’s when they discovered sepsis and an MRSA infection. The doctors told Gary the only option was to amputate above the knee. That was November 8th of 2021. Gary and Jeannie sold their house and moved to Hilton Head, North Carolina.
Jeannie went on to earn her nurse practitioner certification at Emory University, and she was a certified family practitioner until she retired in 1999. Jeannie’s first husband died shortly after she and Gary were married, and Gary adopted her two daughters. The couple also has two grandchildren.
Gary, you carried on the family tradition of serving your country and you did it as a JAG. A military occupation that most people have never heard of unless they watched the TV series JAG. We are all grateful for all of the sacrifices you made along the way and all of the unknown but necessary behind the scenes tasks you executed.
In junior high school Gary showed academic promise and his parents decided to send him to the Linsly Military Institute in Wheeling West Virginia, today known as the Linsly School. The tuition to the school was going to be a financial hardship until Gary’s uncle John sold his beer distributorship in Dayton, Ohio for $1,000,000. “Back when a million bucks was a million bucks.”
The school had a rigorous college preparatory program. “The first year was tough because I was kinda homesick. But I sucked it up and made it through. After my freshman year, I really liked it.” Gary’s grades were good enough to earn him acceptance to Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.
Just before Gary left for his freshman year at Furman, he was visited his uncle in Myrtle Beach. His uncle told him that his friend had a daughter, Jeannie Floyd, who had a friend who needed a date for a dance. Gary said he would be happy to go. As it turned out he really hit off with Jeannie and they remained friends. More on that later.
In 1968 Furman required all male freshman to join the ROTC. After sophomore year the men could decide if they wanted to go on to Advanced ROTC. Gary elected to continue with Advanced ROTC and made that decision one day before the drawing of the selective service lottery. The Lottery was part of the military draft at the time to support the personnel needs of the Vietnam War. Gary wanted some level of control over where he might be sent and thought, “I guess it’s better to go in as an officer rather than as a private.”
In the summer of 1970, the Advanced ROTC program sent Gary to boot camp at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. “We lived in these old barracks up on a place called Smoke Bomb Hill…it was rickety and run down. “We were so tired at the end of each day” from the training. “They issued us a wool blanket in the middle of the summer in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and you’re crawling under a wool blanket to stay warm because you were so tired from the training.” There Gary learned how to use various weapons and about small team leadership.
In 1971 Gary graduated from Furman with a degree in Business. He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant and assigned to the Transportation Corps. Gary wanted to attend law school and the Army accommodated his wish. Gary went on to attend the University of South Carolina Law School and graduated in 1974. Upon graduation the Army gave him orders to report to Fort Eustis for 90 days of additional training.
Gary passed the bar exam and began working for an attorney in the Mrytle Beach area in South Carolina. His first taste of practicing law was not what he expected. The lawyer didn’t make a good impression on Gary. “He was strange. I had to leave him. We had a mutual understanding. He was having trouble making payroll and I’m thinking this doesn’t make sense. There was something about him that just didn’t jive.” Gary called the Army and offered to complete the time he owed the Army by going active duty as a lawyer, or JAG officer. They Army agreed and in July of 1975 Gary went to Fort Pickett located in Fort Lee in Virginia for “basic indoctrination because half of the people in this very small group, JAG school, had never had any military experience.”
Gary recalled one occasion on the rifle range at Fort Pickett. “We were in these concrete foxholes…and a lady attorney had her M16 jam. She points the rifle right at me and says, ‘my rifle’s jammed, what do I do?” Gary hit the bottom of the concrete foxhole like a ton of bricks.
Gary recalled patrolling through the woods in the middle of a very dark night and a 22-year-old solider, fresh from college with no military experience, suggested it was only fair that he led the patrol for a while. The group reached a stream approximately 10 feet wide and the young officer asked the group how deep the stream was. Gary said, “why don’t you just wade in”. The soldier took three steps and disappeared under the water. “We grabbed his web gear and shirt and pulled him out.”
The next stop for Gary was Charlottesville, Virginia where the Army’s law school was located next to the University of Virginia Law School. From August through October the JAG officers learned about military law, the military code of justice, international law, the law of war and the treatment of prisoners. “One day this crazy Marine JAG comes in and says, ‘we need six of you guys to go to airborne training.’” Gary said he heard a small voice inside him, God he thought, telling him to go to airborne school. Gary raised his hand and was selected to jump out of otherwise perfectly good airplanes.
Over the next three weeks Gary successfully completed five jumps without injury. “I carried a New Testament and Psalms in my left fatigue shirt pocket. I would constantly read Romans 8:28.” Gary was now an airborne lawyer.
After becoming airborne qualified Gary reported to Fort McClellan in Birmingham, Alabama where he would serve as an instructor teaching law to Military Police (MP) investigators. Gary held this position for several years and earned the designation from the students as a distinguished instructor.
Gary’s next assignment was to analyze and approve claims for military personnel that had personal property lost or damaged moving between posts. He also investigated claims made against the Army by persons who were killed or injured by military personnel or equipment. “I had to investigate the background, was it military related, who was at fault. It was like an insurance adjuster.”
Gary left active duty in 1975 and went into the private practice of law but remained in the reserves. He used his GI Bill to attend the University of Alabama and earned a Master’s of Law Degree in Taxation in 1979. He was working with a small law firm in South Carolina, but it wasn’t a good fit for him. His commander in the reserves told him about a job with the IRS and suggested he apply. Gary applied and was hired to work in the Chief Counsel’s office. “I did some interesting things in the couple of years I was there.”
In 1982 Gary’s aunt ran into Jeannie Floyd’s mother at the grocery store. They swapped stories on what Gary and Jeannie were up to. Jeannie had earned a two-year degree in nursing, married, had two children and divorced. Gary was still single and was recovering from retina surgery. Jeannie sent Gary a get well card and he called to thank her. One call led to another and soon Gary was flying to Charlotte, North Carolina to visit her while she was studying to get her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing. In 1984 the couple was married.
In 1985 Gary passed the CPA exam. He moved from the IRS back into a private law firm practice in Anniston, Alabama where he developed a strong tax, wills, and estates practice. He became a partner and when the firm split and he and another lawyer formed their own firm, Isom and Stanko. Later it became Stanko and Setter. “I tried a couple of cases in front of a tax court judge and against U.S. attorneys. I won both of them so, taxpayers saved some money.”
Gary recounted one of the most memorable matters he was ever involved in. Gary’s firm represented a significant real estate developer in the Anniston area. Gary encouraged this client, who we call Mr. X, to have a will. “Well, he would never do it and one day he just up and died.” He died without a will, and Mr. X’s only known heir was his wife. “Well, about six months later…the receptionist calls and says there is a young man in the lobby, and he says he is Mr. X Jr. Well, that can’t be, Mr. X never had any kids.”
Gary’s partner went to the lobby, and the man introduces himself as Mr. X Jr. After some discussion he produced a photo of Mr. X at his wedding. It seems that Mr. X had been living two lives with two wives and he had children with the second wife in Florida. “It took us 11 years to administer his estate.”
In 1991 Iraq invaded Kuwait and the 3rd Transportation Brigade was activated and deployed to Kuwait the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The JAG officers did not deploy but they were responsible to help the soldiers that were deploying to complete their wills and power of attorney. That was not much of a Thanksgiving for the U.S. military.
By 1995 Gary had reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and to be promoted to Colonel he would need to relocate to New Orleans, Florida or Memphis. Gary elected pursue his very active law practice and retire from the Army Reserves.
Gary was an active tennis player and developed knee pain. The pain worsened and he decided to have a knee replacement. After the surgery it never felt quite right although he was back to playing tennis. The doctor was concerned with infection, but it was never detected in any tests. Eventually the doctor decided to take out the knee replacement and substitute a spacer. “A spacer is a kind of knee replacement but its covered totally with antibiotics.” With the new spacer Gary remained active but seven years later problems developed.
On Halloween of 2020 Gary arrived home from work and made himself some dinner. When he tried to stand up he couldn’t. The doctors elected to put in another spacer, but it didn’t last long and it snapped in half. That’s when they discovered sepsis and an MRSA infection. The doctors told Gary the only option was to amputate above the knee. That was November 8th of 2021. Gary and Jeannie sold their house and moved to Hilton Head, North Carolina.
Jeannie went on to earn her nurse practitioner certification at Emory University, and she was a certified family practitioner until she retired in 1999. Jeannie’s first husband died shortly after she and Gary were married, and Gary adopted her two daughters. The couple also has two grandchildren.
Gary, you carried on the family tradition of serving your country and you did it as a JAG. A military occupation that most people have never heard of unless they watched the TV series JAG. We are all grateful for all of the sacrifices you made along the way and all of the unknown but necessary behind the scenes tasks you executed.