NKY in 1968: Conflict in Vietnam creates conflict at home

BY RICK ROBINSON | LINK nky GUEST AUTHOR

Rick Robinson is a local author who is writing a book based on life in Northern Kentucky in 1968 and what we can learn now. LINK will publish excerpts from the book regularly in the LINK Reader, as well as on linknky.com

In February 1968, the University of Kentucky was to host on its Lexington campus the “Kentucky Conference on The War/The Draft.”

According to flyers about the conference, it would be “… a place where all of us con- cerned about the war and the draft can begin to build a state-wide movement against the war and learn the skills to organize and educate others.”

The conference was sponsored by several groups, including Students for a Democratic Society. At the time, the SDS was the leading anti-war movement in America.

The conference caused an uproar in the state legislature, pitting free speech advocates and academics against pro-war legislators. Covington Representative Philip King (D) co-authored a resolution (never formally introduced) in the Kentucky General Assembly to deny the use of university facilities for the conference.

The resolution was cosponsored by other state representatives from the region. It took a long meeting in Frankfort between legislators and University of Kentucky officials for the conference to gain approval.

Kentucky Post and Times Star reporter John Murphy introduced the story as follows: “A small indefinite wedge of caution has been pounded into freedom of expression as the basic right of personal liberty in Kentucky.”

The conference took place on Feb. 10, 1968. Among the speakers featured at the conference was Wendell Berry, then a young English professor from the University of Kentucky. Berry eventually became one of Kentucky’s most prolific writers and his list of literary works and awards are numerous.

The speech he gave at the conference would be included in his first book of nonfiction: a collection of essays titled “The LongLegged House.”

Berry recently wrote, “The first paragraph of that essay will give you a sense of the status, and the stress, of such a protest in Ky. at that time. Remember well my own worries about it, but I don’t remember ‘the controversy surrounding’ it.”

Indeed, the opening of Berry’s speech expressed the concerns of his friends and family about his appearance at the conference. “I have received a dire warning that if I consort with such groups as this, I may be made a tool of ‘the communist conspiracy.’”

But Berry ignored the cautions of those around him and gave a thoughtful and eloquent speech on why he opposed America’s presence in Vietnam. The reasons were very personal and set forth in a manner of personal responsibility not often expressed.

“… I do deplore the wrongs and atrocities committed by the other side. But I am responsible for the wrongs and atrocities committed by our side.”

Berry’s words were not covered in the Ken- tucky Post and Times Star. Yet, the coverage of Vietnam on Feb. 10, 1968, was clearly aimed at the conference.

The top banner of the day’s edition bore the bold headline “Our Viet Death Toll . . . 51 Men” and the story was a list of those from the region killed in Southeast Asia since 1962.

The bottom fold included a story on the views of 10 Northern Kentuckians regarding Vietnam. Most expressed thoughts supporting the presence of American troops. All believed it should end as soon as possible.

Only one, a World War II veteran and railroad employee, said, “I don’t think we

Continues on page 6 should have been there in the first place.”

Inside the same edition, there was an editorial titled “Where Valor Proudly Sleeps,” pondering when Kentucky will start honoring those who had fallen in Vietnam with appropriate memorials.

The coverage of the Kentucky Conference on The War/The Draft occurred just over a week into what has become known as the Tet Offensive. The headlines in the Cincinnati Post and Times Star were all about the deadly battles being waged. And editorially the Cincinnati paper was already concluding victory in Vietnam was a “goal beyond our means.” Still, in his own style, Editor Vance Trimble had dodged the issue of America’s presence in Vietnam and offered a “grief story” and editorial analysis appealing to all readers.

Tet is the annual celebration of the Lunar New Year in Vietnam. The Tet Offensive refers to a series of surprise attacks coordinated by the North Vietnamese to take place simultaneously against multiple South Vietnamese cities, military installations, towns, and villages. North Vietnam’s military leaders believed the offensive would lead to a popular uprising of people against the government of South Vietnam.

The Tet Offensive was deadly for both sides. The losses of northern forces in February were never fully determined, but estimates ranged as high 45,000. The South Vietnamese lost 2,788. U.S. and other allied forces suffered 1,536 casualties, 7,764 wounded, and 11 missing.

The deadliest day of Vietnam occurred in one of the first days of Tet. Early in the Tet Offensive, Marine Lance Cpl. Samuel T.

Marshal ,of Erlanger, was killed in Quang Tri; Marine Lance Cpl. Paul Webb ,of Elsmere, was killed by mortar fire near Da Nang; and Army Specialist 4 Samuel Hurry of Covington died in the hospital from wounds he had received in Saigon.

Retired Northern Kentucky physician Dr. Tom Bunnell went to Vietnam in 1967 and served as a Navy Regimental Surgeon for the Marine 5th Division.

In 1968 he was transferred to a hospital in Chu Lai. He recalled that during the Tet Offensive his hospital was “out in the boondocks, in the hills” and was the only one authorized to take locals. His operating room was very active.

“There were lots of casualties coming in,” Bunnell remembers. “Lots of civilians. We were operating 24/7.”

One of Dr. Bunnell’s weekly assignments in Vietnam was to make “sick calls” at clinics located in local villages. When the Tet Offensive started, Bunnell skipped visits for about three weeks.

He returned to one about twenty minutes from the hospital, “When I finally went back it was gone. The building was gone. The people were gone. Nobody knew what had happened to them. The North Vietnamese had occupied that area for a while, and everybody was just gone.”

At one point during his tour in Vietnam, Dr. Bunnell was asked to visit a village where gas had allegedly been deployed. A helicopter left him in the village with a couple of Marines to protect him. Bunnell recalled what happened when 1500 enemy troops surrounded the village:

“While I am standing in the village waiting for the helicopter, all of a sudden there were these explosions all around the edges of the village. And one of the Marines (Fernandes Jennings) says, ‘Oh my God, here come the North Vietnamese. Get in that hole.’ And he points to a trench. So, we’re in this trench and I’m watching all the South Vietnamese Army scatter when Jennings says, ‘we go to go.’ We jumped out of the trench and started running across a rice paddy. A couple of steps in, I fell and dropped all my stuff. I was picking it up when three South Vietnamese soldiers were shot and fell. I ran to the edge of the rice paddy and dived behind the dike. Jennings told me to start digging a hole and get in it. We spent the night there. The next morning the North Vietnamese were gone, and the helicopter came and picked us up. When I arrived at base my commanding officer told us they thought we had been killed. I told him we survived but I would never make another house call.”

During Bunnell’s time in Vietnam, he and his wife Nancy (at home with their oneyear-old son) kept contact by sending tapes back and forth to each other.

“Communication wasn’t great,” she said. “You’re at home and you’re in the dark. There was one point I did not hear from him for a long period of time.”

Nancy kept her sanity via meetings of the Waiting Wives Club, a group of local women whose husbands had been deployed to Vietnam.

Shortly after the Tet Offensive, Bunnell returned home, but initially did not talk much about what he experienced.

“I was really pissed off,” he said. “I felt like they had stolen a year out of my life, and I was angry about it.”

After he returned, Bunnell concluded the war was “a huge mistake and we never had any business being there in the first place. Nothing was accomplished.”

Bunnell eventually made peace over his time in Vietnam, and, in recent years, he gave talks to groups about his time there.

Another important aspect of the Tet Offensive was the news coverage. The Tet Offensive was not only being covered on the front pages of print media, but on television as well.

ABC’s Huntley-Brinkley Report aired a stunning incident showing the harsh realities of war in shocking footage. One of the targets of North Vietnam during the Tet Offensive was the South Vietnam capital of Saigon.

During the attack, the city’s police chief led a captured VC officer to a group of reporters who watched as the prisoner was executed with a single shot to the head at point-blank range. The image remains one of the iconic pictures of the conflict.

Legendary news anchor Walter Cronkite went to Vietnam during the Tet Offensive to film a special report for CBS to be aired near the end of February. The broadcast images of the Vietnam battlefields were brutal and bloody, exposing American viewers to a side of war rarely seen on television.

In concluding the report, Cronkite declared, “It seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate.”

It was a stunning statement that would eventually lead President Lyndon Johnson to not seek reelection.

And if the Tet Offensive was not necessarily on the minds of Northern Kentuckians, it was certainly on the minds of elected officials in Washington.

In 1968, Northern Kentucky was divided between two Congressional Districts for its representation in Washington. Campbell County and the southern half of Kenton County were in the Sixth District represented by John Watts (D) from Lexington.

The northern half of Kenton County and Boone County were in the Fourth District that ran along the Ohio River to the suburbs of Louisville which was represented by Gene Snyder (R). In the United States Senate, Kentucky had Thurston Morton (R) and John Sherman Cooper (R).

Congressman Snyder was also known for his quarterly newsletters to constituents and annual questionnaires.

The result of the 1967 annual questionnaire was released in February of 1968. While not a scientific poll, the responses Snyder released shows a crack in community support for America’s presence in Vietnam.

The first question on Snyder’s survey was simply stated: “What would you do about the war in Vietnam?” One respondent stated, “Vietnam appears to be the most stupid chapter in American history,” a Fort Thomas woman said. “We can’t win the way it’s going.”

In February 1968, Sen. Thurston Morton

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announced he would not seek reelection. Days later he blasted President Johnson’s handling of Vietnam.

Kentucky made national news in the middle of February when United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D-NY) visited eastern Kentucky to hold hearings on the effectiveness of poverty programs in Appalachia. Kennedy was accompanied by Republican Senator John Sherman Cooper. The Kentucky Post and Times Star followed Kennedy’s visit with two editorials – one on the substance of the hearings and the other on the youthful star power of Senator Kennedy.

“The way they (young people) act, you’d think he was going to break out loaves and fishes,” said a 40-year-old mother of twelve.

The final footnote to February 1968 is a story about the passage of a resolution in the Kentucky House of Representatives highlights the racial divide at the time.

The resolution called on police departments to rid themselves of officers who were members of the Ku Klux Klan.

The resolution passed 24-14.

Sixty members of the Kentucky House of Representatives “took a walk” and did not cast a vote.

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Thomas More, Erlanger/ Elsmere Independent launching new college prep program

Erlanger-Elsmere Independent School District and Thomas More University are launching a college prep program, which was made official at a signing ceremony on Friday, Feb. 10.

The college prep program encourages high school students to register for college and prepares rising juniors and seniors for dual credit and college-level courses. The Thomas More Dual-Credit program plans to collaborate with other regional high schools following this summer 2023 pilot.

The program offers high school students the opportunity to take college courses at a reduced tuition rate while exposing them to a college setting and Thomas More’s campus culture.

For more information on the dual credit program, go to thomasmore.edu.

Campbell, Kenton counties, join KY Jailers Association in lawsuit against state

The Kentucky Jailers Association, four Kentucky counties, including Campbell and Kenton, and their jailers have joined forces in a complaint/petition against the Kentucky Department of Corrections.

The complaint was filed on Jan. 20 regarding housing state inmates in county facilities, claiming that the state has ignored its statutory responsibilities to care for those inmates.

Plaintiffs named in the complaint are Campbell County and Campbell County Jailer James Daley, Kenton County and Kenton County Jailer Marc Fields, Boyd County and Boyd County Jailer Bill Hensley, Marion County and Marion County Jailer J. Barry Brady, and the Kentucky Jailers Association. The defendants listed are the Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Corrections, Cookie Crews, and the Kentucky Department of Corrections.

“The primary theme of the suit is that the state has not fulfilled its statutory responsibilities to provide the appropriate transfer and or compensation to fiscal courts in jails for state inmates,” representation for the plaintiffs, Jeff Mando, said.

Mando said that as a result, the cost of housing the state inmates is borne by the local counties and local taxpayers, who support the fiscal courts and the jails.

“We have engaged in efforts to try and get this resolved,” Mando said. “The state has ignored us. So, we filed suit for declaratory and injunctive relief to compel the state to comply with its statutory responsibilities to care for these inmates. To provide per diems to transfer them when appropriate to pay for the medical care necessary for the state inmates. Instead of placing that responsibility on the local governments.”

Declaratory relief is when the court orders a party to pay monetary damages or take certain action under injunctive relief, which restrains a party from doing certain things or requires them to act in a certain way.

Mando said the state is supposed to classify and transfer the state inmates within 45 days of their final sentencing and are “routinely and habitually” ignoring that statutory mandate.

According to state law:

“State prisoners, excluding the Class D felons and Class C felons qualifying to serve time in jails, shall be transferred to the state institution within 45 days of final sentencing.”

In a statement from the state, they claim that the department of corrections has 90 days to transfer the inmates sentenced to state prison.

Mando said the state left off a “key part” of the language in the bill, which says that state prisoners (excluding Class C and D) “may be transferred to a state institution within 90 days of final sentencing if the county jail does not object to the additional 45 days.” Williams said the DOC has more inmates waiting to be transferred than available beds.

“Once an individual has been sentenced to serve their sentence at a state prison, DOC must transfer the individual to the state assessment center for intake, booking, and medical evaluation,” Williams said. “DOC has approximately 2,000 inmates waiting to be transferred, and the assessment center has 730 beds.”

The complaint claims that the defendants “routinely fail” to classify inmates within 45 days of final sentencing, leaving state inmates who would otherwise be transferred to a state prison facility sitting in county jails, including those in Campbell, Kenton, Boyd, and Marion counties.

A solution the complaint offers is for the defendants to enter into contracts with county jails (including Campbell, Kenton, Boyd, and Marion Counties) to establish terms and conditions under which each county jail is willing to hold state inmates, allowing county jails to negotiate with the state to recover more of the money they spend on state inmates.

“Defendants, however, refuse to enter into contracts with county jails in connection with the housing of, or provision of medical care to, state inmates,” The complaint said.

This case was filed through the Franklin Circuit Court. A response to the complaint has yet to be filed.

Baker Hunt Art Center to host National Ceramics Conference

Baker Hunt Art and Cultural Center, located in Covington, will host three exhibitions for the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference from March 13 to March 18.

The conference itself will take place at the Duke Convention Center in Cincinnati, where presentations, training sessions and other events will be held. Ceramic artworks from around the world will be exhibited throughout the week, and Baker Hunt as well as other local arts organizations will be featured on bus tours for attendees.

Local ceramic artists can submit work for exhibition on Baker Hunt’s submission page. Submissions are due March 10 by 6 p.m. Chosen works will be displayed March 13 to March 18 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A reception with NCECA representatives will take place on March 16 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The reception is open to the public.

Baker Hunt Art and Cultural Center sits on a three-acre campus and hosts classes in drawing, ceramics, painting, multimedia, clothing making and cooking for adults and children.

The NCECA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating and informing the public about ceramic artworks. According to their website, they have members in the both the United States and 20 foreign countries.

To learn more about Baker Hunt Art and Cultural Center, visit their website baker hunt.org. To learn more about the event, visit Baker Hunt’s event page.

Kentucky Bourbon Trail attendance reaches record heights

Bourbon tourism reached new heights last year in Kentucky, where visitors flocked to large and small distilleries as the whiskey-making attractions shook off any pandemic-era hangovers.

Attendance at distilleries along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail surpassed 2 million in 2022 for the first time ever, the Kentucky Distillers’ Association announced. Venerable bourbon producers and industry newcomers alike benefited from the surge.

Total visits exceeded 2.1 million last year, easily beating the pre-pandemic record of 1.7 million stops in 2019, the distillers’ group said. In the past decade, the “amber adventure” has had a 370% surge in attendance – a boom to the state known around the world for bourbon production, it said.

Total attendance at its 18 participating distilleries nearly reached 1.4 million last year, the group said. Research shows that bourbon tourists tend to be younger, spend between $400 and $1,200 on their trip, travel in large groups, and stay longer than the average visitor to Kentucky, the distillers’ association said.

Taylor Mill native wins Grammy

Taylor Mill’s very own Carly Pearce won a Grammy Sunday night for the song “Never Wanted To Be That Girl,” which she co-wrote and performed with singer Ashley McBryde.

“Wrote a country song with my friend and we won our first Grammy,” Pearce tweeted Sunday evening. “I have no words. Zero. None. More Later. I love you.”

Pearce and McBride took home best country/duo group performance Sunday for the song on Pearce’s album 29: Written in Stone.

Young wrestler wins state tournament

Local wrestler Ezra Yungkau, age 6, recently won first place at the Kentucky Youth Wrestling Tournament on Feb. 5, with his team, The Bandits. Yungkau is a student at Stephens Elementary. Match results show Yungkau earned his first place finish in a sudden victory over Ryan Robinson, of the Conner Cougars. His victory earned his 8-and-under team 22 points in the tournament.

Mulch seeking local gardens for companionship

Holy Cross High School is having its 25th Annual Mulch Sale, selling three kinds of mulch in two cubic foot bags for $4.75 per bag, and Pine Straw for $9.50 per bale. All prices include free delivery and sales tax. HCHS students will deliver mulch to homes, businesses or rental properties anywhere in Kenton, Boone and Campbell counties. The sale starts April 1 and con- tinues for at least five weeks. All proceeds benefit Holy Cross High School. Order can be placed at hcmulch.com or by calling (859) 392-8999.

Local singer makes national debut

Northern Kentucky singer/songwriter Jasmine Poole, better known as Wonky Tonk, made her national television debut when she recently taped an episode of WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour in Lexington on Monday, Feb. 13. Hosted by folk singer and songwriter Michael Johnathon, WoodSongs airs over public television stations and regional PBS networks nationwide, including KET in Kentucky.

Feb. 17 to Feb. 25

Boone County

Feb. 21: Boone County Fiscal Court Meeting, 5:30 p.m., Boone County Administration Building, 2950 Washington St., Burlington

Feb. 22: Latin Dance Fitness, 6:30 p.m. Boone County Library Main Branch, 1786 Burlington Pike, Burlington. (For details, go to bcpl.org; registration necessary)

Feb. 22: Trivia Night, 6:30 p.m. Boone County Library Main Branch, 1786 Burlington Pike, Burlington.

Feb. 23: Throwback Series: Vintage Fashion (presentation), 6:30 p.m. Boone County Library Main Branch, 1786 Burlington Pike, Burlington.

Florence

Feb. 18: Condor & Crow’s Petrifying Picture Show, 2 p.m., Boone County Library Florence Branch, 7425 U.S. 42, Florence (Registration required; also on Zoom)

Feb. 21: Florence City Council Caucus Meeting, 6 p.m., Florence Government Center, 8100 Ewing Blvd., Florence

StoryPoint residents greet visitors with Bengals pride

Hebron

Feb 18: SWET DanceFit, 9:30 a.m., Boone County Hebron Branch, 1863 North Bend Road, Hebron (For details, go to bcpl.org. Continues Saturdays through Feb. 25)

Union

Feb. 18: Houseplant Swap, 10 a.m. Boone County Library Scheben Branch, 8899 U.S. 42, Union

Feb. 20: Let’s Hear from Frankfort, 6:30 p.m., Boone County Library Scheben Branch, 8899 U.S. 42, Union (Also on Zoom. Hear from elected officials; register at nkyforum.org)

Community Calendar

We love to share events, birthdays, anniversaries, and special announcements. Send items to the Town Crier via email at towncrier@linknky.com.

Note: Many government offices will be closed on Presidents Day on Monday, Feb. 20.

Feb. 22: Piecemakers Sit and Sew, 9 a.m., Boone County Library Scheben Branch, 8899 U.S. 42, Union

Feb. 24: Experience T’ai Chi, 10:30 a.m., Boone County Library Scheben Branch, 8899 U.S. 42, Union (For details, go to bcpl. org. Also on Feb. 24.)

Walton

Feb. 23: Book Discussion: Last Thing He Told Me, by Laura Dave, 9 a.m., Boone County Library Walton Branch, 21 S. Main St., Walton (contact Sharon Franklin at sfrank@bcpl. org.

Campbell County

Feb. 21: Campbell County Public Schools Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Alexandria Educational Center, 51 Orchard Lane, Alexandria

Feb. 21: Campbell County Municipal Board of Adjustment Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Campbell County Administration Building, 1098 Monmouth St., Newport

Feb. 22: Skywarn Spotters Webinar, 6 p.m., on Zoom. (National Weather Service class for weather spotters. See Campbell County calendar for link to register and info.)

Alexandria

Feb. 21: Alexandria Planning and Zoning Meeting, 7 p.m., Alexandria City Building, 8236 W. Main St., Alexandria

Bellevue

Feb. 17: Bellevue Planning and Zoning

Meeting, 7 p.m., Bellevue City Building, 616 Poplar St., Bellevue

Feb. 22: Bellevue Independent Schools Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Bellevue High School Library, 201 Center St., Bellevue

Feb. 25: Bellevue Winter Carnival and Chili Cookoff, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Washington Ave. at Fairfield Ave., Bellevue (Note: Fairfield Avenue between Fessler’s and Frame and Hang will be closed to traffic at this time.)

Dayton

Feb. 22: Dayton Independent Schools Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Dayton Independent Schools, 200 Clay St., Dayton

Feb 22: Dayton VFW Post 2899 Bingo Night, 5 p.m., 828 6th Ave., Dayton (every Wednesday)

Feb. 23: Dayton Park Board Meeting, 7 p.m., Dayton Community and Meeting Center, 625 2nd Ave., Dayton

Feb. 25: Dayton Heritage Museum, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 718 6th Ave., Dayton

Fort Thomas

Feb. 21: Fort Thomas City Council Meeting, 7 p.m., Fort Thomas City Building, 130 N. Fort Thomas Ave., Fort Thomas

Feb. 23: Fort Thomas Design Review Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Fort Thomas City Building, 130 N. Fort Thomas Ave., Fort Thomas

Highland Heights

Feb. 21: Highland Heights City Council Meeting, 7 p.m., Highland Heights City Building, 176 Johns Hill Road, Highland Heights

Newport

Feb. 22: Newport Historic Preservation Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Newport City Building, 998 Monmouth St., Newport. (Call 859292-3637 to confirm meeting).

Feb. 22: Newport Independent Schools Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m., 30 W. 8th Street, Newport

Wilder

Feb. 21: Wilder City Council Meeting, 7 p.m., Wilder City Building, 520 Licking Pike, Wilder

Feb. 24: Wilder Fire Dept. Annual Fish Fry, 4 to 8 p.m., Wilder City Building, 520 Licking

Pike, Wilder (dine-in or carryout)

Kenton County

Covington

Feb. 21: Covington Board of Commissioners Caucus Meeting, 6 p.m., Covington City Hall, 20 W. Pike St., Covington (registration required)

Feb. 22: Covington Code Enforcement Hearing Board Meeting, 5 p.m., Covington City Hall, 20 W. Pike St., Covington

Feb. 23: Covington Board of Education Meeting, 5:30 p.m., Covington Board of Education, 25 E. 7th St., Covington

Feb. 25: Covington Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Braxton Brewery, 27 W. 7th St., Covington

Edgewood

Feb: 21: Senior Cards, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Edgewood Senior Center, 550 Freedom Park Drive, Crestview Hills (open to all, card games).