Even before he had a chance to use his Robinson real estate degree as a civilian, Gerald Hudgins was whisked off to the military. “Didn’t even get to walk at graduation,” he said. “I had planned to enlist but they were waiting for me at the door.” His initial assignment was with the Infantry, but a three day pass gave the young solider a chance to go to the Pentagon and plead his case for another detail. He was looking for something in finance, artillery, or engineering. When he reached the Pentagon, “a nice woman did all she could to help. She asked if I was an engineering major. The answer, of course, was no. Then she asked if there were any engineers in the family to which I replied ‘yes, dad and grandpa were railroad engineers.’ She said ‘close enough’ and I was suddenly an Army engineer.”
Once the Army found out about his real estate degree, however, Hudgins was reassigned to that MOS (military occupational specialty). When he went to Viet Nam in 1970 he spent his entire Southeast Asian tour working for MACV (Military Assistance Command Viet Nam), traveling the countryside and negotiating real estate deals with Vietnamese locals.
A MASTER BUILDER Just before he left for Vietnam, at the age of 22, he came upon a piece of land in Henry County that he was able to purchase through a payment plan. “I remember that it cost $167 per month and the Army was paying me $112 – talk about creative bookkeeping,” said Gerald. Upon his return, he developed his first residential subdivision and created a small real estate agency with a tiny office and two licensed agents. He called it North Henry Realty. The business grew. In 1991, the company incorporated as Apple Realty, Inc. “It was my Cousin Bob’s (Prather) idea. He said that I needed a name that would be easy for folks to remember and one that was high up in the yellow pages.” Today, Apple Realty has 40 real estate professionals offering services that include new home sales, re-sales and commercial sales. Gerald himself, however, spends his time heading up Hudgins Construction, developing commercial and residential properties Henry County, an area about which he exudes considerable pride.
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Just before he left for Vietnam, at the age of 22, he came upon a piece of land in Henry County that he was able to purchase through a payment plan. “I remember that it cost $167 per month and the Army was paying me $112 – talk about creative bookkeeping,” said Gerald. Upon his return, he developed his first residential subdivision and created a small real estate agency with a tiny office and two licensed agents. He called it North Henry Realty. The business grew. In 1991, the company incorporated as Apple Realty, Inc. “It was my Cousin Bob’s (Prather) idea. He said that I needed a name that would be easy for folks to remember and one that was high up in the yellow pages.” Today, Apple Realty has 40 real estate professionals offering services that include new home sales, re-sales and commercial sales. Gerald himself, however, spends his time heading up Hudgins Construction, developing commercial and residential properties Henry County, an area about which he exudes considerable pride.
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