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thedrifter
03-02-07, 07:08 PM
Cal Stephenson Sr., Pioneering Industry Distributor and WWII Hero, Dies
By Brad Harbison
3/2/2007

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — The pest control industry mourns the loss of Cal Stephenson, Sr., founder of Stephenson Chemical Company, and a World War II veteran. Stephenson passed away on Thursday.

Stephenson fought in some of the fiercest battles in the Pacific Theatre during World War II and came back to start Stephenson Chemical Company, one of the nation's first pest management distribution companies. (In the late 1990s Stephenson Chemical Co., was sold to Univar).

Stephenson remained involved in the pest control industry well into his retirement. Last year, at the Georgia Pest Control Association Winter Conference, GPCA recognized Stephenson for his service to the pest control industry.

"Cal Stephenson was one of the most engaging individuals I ever met. He never met a stranger and made everyone feel special," said Valera Jessee, executive director, GPCA. "His work within the pest control industry was a cornerstone for education, good service and integrity. He was one of the original founders of UPF&DA bringing together the suppliers who previously had no common voice."

Editor's note: PCT profiled Cal Stephenson Sr., in its 2002 Leadership Issue for an article titled "The Heroes Among Us." Stephenson's military service to the U.S. during World War II is detailed in the following article.

In 1942 the draft board started breathing down my neck," says Calvin Stephenson Sr., who at the time was a new high school graduate taking classes at the Georgia Military Academy.

"They said if you don’t join the service, you are going to get drafted. I went up to Fort McPherson, Ga., and went through their selection program," Stephenson says. "They had four tables. One was the Army, one was Air Force, one was the Navy and one was for the Marines," he recalls. "The Marines were all dressed out in their blue uniforms. I thought to myself, ‘If I could get a uniform like that, I could get any woman in the state.’"

Stephenson made his way to Paris Island, S.C., for Marine boot camp and within months was in Guadalcanal as a radio operator attached to a tank unit. Guadalcanal, a remote island in the southwest Pacific Ocean, was site of the first American offensive in World War II on Aug. 7, 1942.

Stephenson was sent to Guadalcanal to help reinforce the troops trying to overrun a Japanese airfield on the island. In total, U.S. forces lost 25 ships and 1,769 soldiers in the battle.

After action on Guadalcanal subsided, Stephenson shipped to Brisbane, Australia and to the South Pacific Island of New Caledonia for training. "We were getting ready for the big one," Stephenson recalls.

The "big one" being the Battle of Peleliu, one of the war’s bloodiest, yet most under publicized battles. Peleliu, now part of the independent island Republic of Palau, is located in the Philippine Sea, north of Australia, south of Japan and east of the Philippines. During the war Japanese forces used the island as an outpost and airfield to help defend the Philippines, of which it had taken control.

On Sept. 15, 1944, Marines of the 1st Marine Division, including Stephenson, landed on the western beaches of Peleliu intent on capturing the rugged island.

"Our commanders thought we could secure the island in three days," Stephenson says. "It took three months."

Peleliu was defended by 10,500 Japanese troops, who used the island’s rugged terrain as a natural defense and created an intricate maze of tunnels and caves. "The Japanese had these big mortars and cannons stuck back into the hills and mountains. They would lob these shells over and just devastate us."

If the fierce fighting wasn’t bad enough, Stephenson, like the other Marines in the battle, had to endure temperatures as high as 115 degrees and a scarcity of drinking water. "Water had to be brought in via 55-gallon-drums. When we got water it was brown because of the rust in the drums," Stephenson says.

On the second day of fighting Stephenson hunkered in a hole with the company commander, as a barrage of Japanese mortar fire fell on the company. One shell sailed near Stephenson’s position and shrapnel ripped open his leg. "I was evacuated to Guadalcanal Hospital where I received the Purple Heart. Thank goodness I didn’t have to stay on Peleliu," Stephenson says.

In November, U.S. forces finally secured the island, but at the price of more than 6,526 casualties, nearly 75 percent of the Marines originally sent to Peleliu.

Stephenson still carries the shrapnel around in his leg, a reminder of his service to the nation. "They had so many casualties that were worse than mine, so they didn’t have time to take the shrapnel out," Stephenson notes. "It doesn’t bother me much now, but I can tell when it is going to rain."

After recuperation, Stephenson was sent to Okinawa where, as a Marine radio operator, he worked with Navajo "windtalkers." The subject of a recent Hollywood movie, windtalkers were placed on each end of a radio and communicated vital information using their native Navajo language, which the Japanese could not interpret. "They were truly life savers," Stephenson says.

At Okinawa, the Marines awarded Stephenson the Naval Personal Citation for keeping radios in operation during a wave a devastating typhoons.

After the Japanese surrender, Stephenson was sent to Tianjin, China, were he helped protect the embattled Japanese from communist forces in China.


STARTING OVER AGAIN. Surviving war is a life-altering event and returning from battle can feel like starting all over again. Luckily for Stephenson, he could take refuge in the family business, a retail hardware store opened by his father.

While working at the family store, Stephenson attended the University of Georgia, where he graduated with a degree in Agriculture and met Dorothy, his wife of 53 years.

Stephenson’s first job out of college was with Armor Fertilizer, Dallas, Texas, for whom he worked while Dorothy attended Southern Methodist University. When Stephenson’s mother became ill, he moved back to College Park to work with his two brothers in the family business.

Using his experience at Armor Fertilizer, Stephenson began formulating insecticides for sale through the hardware store. "One day a pest management technician came in the door and wanted to buy some technical grade Chlordane," Stephenson says. "I sold him a 5-gallon can and then started getting more and more calls for it."

Before long, formulating insecticides was monopolizing Stephenson’s time, so he formed Stephenson Chemical Company and entered into the distribution business full-time.

Recognizing a developing market of pest management professionals, Stephenson began selling related equipment such as termite pumps and electric hammers. "We just kept adding and the business kept growing."

"Dad was one of the very first full-line supply companies to the pest management industry," says Cal Stephenson Jr., owner, Stephenson Equipment Company, Nashville, Tenn., a pest management equipment supplier. "He’s one of the last of the patriarchs of the supply side of the industry. Five years ago, Stephenson Sr. sold the business to Univar USA Inc. (formerly Van Waters & Rogers).

Today, Stephenson is enjoying a well-earned retirement in College Park, Ga., where he speaks to high school and college students about his war experiences. "It’s just amazing that they don’t know a darn thing about World War II. You can learn so much from history," Stephenson says.

Stephenson’s speaking engagements, says his son Cal Jr., are an indication that he has come to terms with his war duty. "He was very closed mouthed about it for many years. But in the last 10 years he’s really opened up. He got active in veteran’s organizations and he’s started talking to kids about it."

Like many in his generation, Cal Stephenson Sr. is now happy to share his story, so that it might help younger generations. And now too, we all are beginning to realize and appreciate that we are standing on the shoulders of men and women like Cal Stephenson Sr., who helped protect a country and build an industry, so that we might flourish.

Friday, March 2, 2007

http://www.pctonline.com/news/images/Stephenson-unif.jpg
Cal Stephenson in the Marine "dress" uniform that first attracted him to the corps. (PCT file photo)