March 1968: A promise ‘etched in stone’ is delivered as war rages in Vietnam

BY RICK ROBINSON | LINK nky GUEST AUTHOR

March 1968 was a banner month for the region as Gov. Louie Nunn fulfilled a year-old campaign promise and signed legislation establishing a four-year college in Northern Kentucky. The all-encompassing impact of this singular stroke of the pen continues to resonate through the community to this day.

It is hard to imagine life in the region without Northern Kentucky University. Yet, its establishment was anything but a cake walk. The legislation enabling NKU’s founding faced numerous and substantial obstacles.

“All the other state universities were opposed to it,” said former State Representative Ken Harper (R). “They saw it as a threat to their own enrollment.”

At the time Art Schmidt (R) represented Highland Heights, the community where Northern Kentucky University sits today. In an oral history, Schmidt remembered the opposition.

“You’ve got to realize that a lot of kids from Northern Kentucky went to Morehead and went to Eastern and to UK,” said Schmidt. “Morehead and Eastern depended a lot upon this, so none of the universities wanted Northern to be established. They were opposed to it. Kentucky … the University of Kentucky didn’t want it either.”

Harper remembered that on top of the opposition from college presidents, the state was facing a deficit in the budget. Success in the establishment of a four-year state college was tied directly to increasing the sales tax from 3% to 5%.

“And man, did we take some heat for supporting Nunn’s Nickel,” Harper said.

Harper’s assertion is backed by newspaper articles about caravans of people traveling to Frankfort to oppose an increase in the state’s sales tax.

Clyde Middleton was a freshman in the State Senate in 1968. In his oral history, he recalled how Nunn broke the log jam.

“[A]ll of the Northern Kentucky legislators favored it. Louie Nunn likes to tell a story about how Julian Carroll was riding both sides of that issue. And so Louie called all of university presidents in and got them in his office and then he called Julian Carroll down and said, ‘Julian, here are the presidents of all the colleges; now, tell me. Are you for Northern Kentucky University or against it?’ And I guess Julian said he was for it. And it went through.”

Many students and teachers were also opposed. The University of Kentucky operated an “extension” campus in Park Hills allowing students to work on a degree from the state’s flagship institution. Teachers were concerned that a new college could not obtain proper certification and student’s degrees would be worthless.

But as Ken Harper pointed out, “When Louie made a promise, it was etched in stone.”

Schmidt mentioned how Nunn used the power of his office in establishing NKU: “Also happens at the time, the governor by virtue of being governor was chairman of the boards of regents of all the schools, so even though the presidents and so on didn’t want it, they weren’t about to buck the governor too bad on this thing.”

When discussing the establishment of Northern Kentucky University, the work of State Representative Phillip King (D) is often overlooked. While the Republican governor may have set the agenda for the legislature at the time, the General Assembly was controlled by Democrats. Rep. King cosponsored the legislation establishing Northern Kentucky State College and authored the bill appropriating its initial funding (a whopping $200,000). Years later Rep. King was instrumental in passing legislation making it a university.

In King’s personal files, he kept copies of the Kentucky Labor News. King was a switchman on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad while he was earning his law degree. His voting record reflected his blue-collar background. Yet, King’s daughter, Kenton Circuit Court Judge Terri King Schoborg, recalls her father’s dedication to NKU as being steadfast.

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“He was committed to making sure we had our own university,” she said.

The Kentucky Post and Times Star covered the proceedings throughout the first quarter of 1968, but editorial support was noticeably absent. Early in the legislative session the paper pointed out that the region already had a four-year college –Villa Madonna College. In fact, the paper spent more editorial ink on Villa Madonna changing its name to Thomas More than to the establishment of NKU.

In an editorial issued following passage of the legislation, The Kentucky Post and Times Star wrote: “By 82 to zero in the House and 38 to zero in the Senate, the state’s legislators recognized the real need for a full-fledged state college in the commonwealth’s second most populated area. Reality may be some time away, but we’ll be officially on the way to our college goal with Gov. Nunn’s signature of approval.”

At the signing ceremony for the budget, Governor Nunn explained how the new college was tied to the sales tax increase.

“You … and other sections of Kentucky … would not have your college, or the planned bridges, roads, highways and other projects were it not for the new tax program,” he said.

While Northern Kentucky University would have never happened without the backing of Louie Nunn, the funding mechanism of an increase in the state sales tax haunted Nunn for years.

“Nunn’s Nickel made NKU happen,” said Harper. “But Louie never recovered politically. It cost him his career in politics.”

As education grew, so did the war

All the while the debate over Northern Kentucky’s four-year university was happening, Vietnam was becoming more visible in the community and driving national politics.

Based upon a call from the United States Department of Defense for an additional 48,000 troops, local Selective Service boards increased their induction numbers. For the first time, so-called “Kennedy Husbands” would be included in the ranks of those to be drafted.

President John Kennedy was the author of an Executive Order declaring that single men should be called in the draft before married ones. The Executive Order had been rescinded by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965, but the exemption continued to apply to men covered during the active time of the Order. Thus, men who were married between Feb. 16, 1963, and Aug. 16, 1965 were referred to as “Kennedy Husbands” and their classification was such they would only be drafted if the supply of single men ran out.

“With America’s sons in the fields far away; with America’s future under challenge right here at home; with our hopes and the world’s hopes for peace in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office – the Presidency of your country. Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”

President Lyndon Johnson March 31, 1968

local Kennedy Husbands changed, and they were moved to the front of the induction line. In its first substantive position on Vietnam in 1968, The Kentucky Post and Times Star opposed a policy calling “…men who had planned their families and future with civilian confidence who now find themselves being summoned for war.”

Also in March, Fourth District Congressman Gene Snyder (R) took to the floor of the United States House of Representatives and called for President Johnson to stop the war or have “the blood of dying Americans on his hands.”

In the 15-page speech, Snyder alleged Johnson violated the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (allowing American forces in Vietnam to retaliate) by actually escalating the war.

With these comments, Congressman Snyder joined Kentucky Senators John Sherman Cooper (R) and Thurston Morton (R) in war criticism.

Congressman Snyder was not the only person upset with President Johnson’s handling of Vietnam. Local Democrats supporting New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D) and Minnesota Senator Eugene “Clean Gene” McCarthy (D) met to try and get delegates to the Democratic National Convention to attend unpledged to any one candidate.

In the week following the meeting, President Johnson’s election vulnerability would be shown when, in the New Hampshire Primary, he would eke out a win over McCarthy. Johnson’s narrow victory also pushed Kennedy to formally enter the race.

With 79% of the New Hampshire primary vote, former Vice President Richard Nixon solidified his drive for the Republican nomination for President.

And when former Alabama Governor George Wallace ditched his Democratic party affiliation and joined the race for President of the United States as an independent, The Kentucky Post and Times Star said:

“We’re glad the Bluegrass voters will have an opportunity to express their preferences in the white supremacy while electing a new United States Senator and helping to elect a president.

Due to a shortage of draftees, the delayed sequence of calls for

By the end of the month, in a nationally televised speech, President Johnson would announce he was abandoning his reelection effort.

Our impression has been that most Kentuckians are not strongly racist in their attitudes, but we shall see.

On Nov. 6 will come the final separation of the ins from the outs, the sheep from the goats, the eagles from the hawks, doves, buzzards and other aves.”

While all of this was happening nationally, the local men continued being shipped overseas and the regional death toll from Vietnam continued to grow.

The Covington parents of twenty-yearold Army Sgt. Ronald McCollum got word that their son, missing in action for over a month, had been killed. He was stationed in Dac To near the border of Laos when he went missing. “I hated to see him go,” said his young wife.

In a letter home, McCollum told his family, “But there’s a job that must be done there and I’m no better than my buddies. My men look to me for guidance.”

Army Second Lt. Dennette Edwards, III, was killed. Edwards had moved to Florida following his 1963 graduation from Simon Kenton High School but had kept in close contact with his former classmates. Marine PFC Gary Wayne Litton from Edgewood was killed by mortar fire just north of Hue.

And Marine Lance Cpl. Sam Marshall of Erlanger was killed while trying to pull a com- rade to safety. His brother John, at the time stationed in Okinawa, accompanied his brother’s body home for funeral services.

Feature stories in The Kentucky Post and Times Star focused on life in and out of Vietnam. William G Wilson was happy to be home with his parents in Boone County but admitted his time in the military had changed his way of thinking.

“I heard thunder the other night and I thought, ‘Incoming fire.’ In Vietnam we’d have jumped in a hole,” he said.

Northern Kentuckians also read the story of 52-year-old Master Sgt. Lloyd Saylor from Newport. A veteran of World War II and Cincinnati-based recruiter, Sgt. Saylor had put in for retirement and instead got orders to head up helicopter operations in Saigon.

Two Newport Catholic High School graduates from Highland Heights, PFC William Bailey and PFC William Stratman, were reunited in Hawaii. Bailey, wounded by shrapnel, was recuperating in the hospital where Stratman had been assigned. Stratman wrote to his parents about the reunion.

“Boy, I’m so very, very glad I saw him. It’s kind of hard to describe the feelings inside of you when you meet someone under these conditions,” he told them.

Moved by the Tet Offensive and the growing number of local casualties, The Kentucky Post and Times Star sent a team of reporters into the field to talk with its readers about Vietnam. Nearly half of the persons interviewed supported the presence of United States troops in Vietnam. The remaining group was split between being opposed and having mixed emotions.

A Newport woman said, “I think we should bring peace to that troubled country if we can, but not by pulling out. Quitting never accomplished anything.” A Covington man worried his son would be sent to Vietnam, but added, “I guess it’s a good war. I don’t understand it, but I feel it has to be fought.”

“This mess transcends politics,” said Snyder. “The end of this war should not wait. The slaughter of Americans should not have to await an election.”

Rep. Gene Snyder

The article reporting the responses noted the people opposed to the war “answered more quickly and emotionally,” describing it as “‘pointless, a scandal, drain, lost cause, mess, useless, and unnecessary.’”

A Fort Thomas businessman called the war “just plain monkey business.” He added, “I don’t understand why a big country like ours lets little countries dictate to us.”

A Warsaw laborer said it was a repeat of Korea. A railroad worker from Covington said plainly, “We ought to mind our own business.”

While this story was not a scientific poll, it certainly shows the growing discontent of the country’s presence in Vietnam.

Near the end of the month, Students for a Democratic Society held its largest national conference to date in Lexington. According to reports, there were over a hundred delegates and some 350 observers at the two-day meeting.

Covington resident Thurman Wenzel attended the conference. A former Naval officer and math professor at the Naval Academy, Wenzel was one of the observers and he credits attending the meeting for transforming him from math professor to life-long activist.

“The Lexington meeting was the first time I had been around a large group of anti-war demonstrators,” he said. “After Tet, people started taking the anti-war movement more seriously.”

The March 1968 meeting of Students for a Democratic Society in Lexington was not reported on in Northern Kentucky.

One other incident not reported on in Northern Kentucky (or anywhere, for that matter) was a U.S. military raid on a small village of Mỹ Lai, where hundreds of villagers were slaughtered by American military forces. The Pentagon would cover up the story for more than a year and its eventual revelation in 1969 would force the public to face the brutality of Vietnam once again.

Hair Mattered in ‘68

Marking the times of 1968 were two incidents involving hair.

First, a Louisville based motorcycle club –the Louisville Outlaws – went to Frankfort to discuss legislation. The Kentucky House of Representatives passed a resolution telling them to go back to Louisville and not return until they “improved their appearance.” Specifically, the resolution to get haircuts and shaves.

Another story was about a young man being suspended from Campbell County High School because the superintendent disliked his long hair. As additional punishment, his photo was going to be removed from the school’s annual yearbook. As a point of reference, the haircut in question looked more like Donny Osmond than Duane Allman. Nevertheless, it took a lawsuit to reinstate the offending longhair and get his picture back into the yearbook.

Eric Deters: Guilty plea on menacing charge won’t affect run for governor

Republican gubernatorial candidate Eric Deters pleaded guilty to charges of menacing and harassing communications involving allegedly having a run-in with his juvenile nephew on a farm in Independence in October.

The judge dropped one charge of trespassing, but Deters agreed to one charge of menacing and two counts of harassing communications.

As part of his guilty plea, Deters would face 90 days in jail per count if he violates a protective order or tries to contact his nephew, brother, or sister-in-law within two years. He also can’t publicly disparage his family to the media.

“After the presentation of the prosecutor’s case, I decided to plead guilty,” Deters said.

Deters further said he decided to plead guilty to menacing and harassing communications because he felt he was guilty.

“I admitted to the police officers that I did want to scare him,” Deters said, elaborating that wants to put this behind him.

“These are misdemeanors,” Deters said. “They’re not felonies. They do not affect [in] any way shape or form my ability to run for governor.”

The criminal complaint filed in Kenton County in October alleged that Deters’ nephew called the police because Deters was chasing him in his truck on a family farm owned by Deters’ brother — the brother banned Deters from the farm in 2020.

Deters’ nephew told police that when he arrived at the farm to hunt, Deters was near the mailboxes on Green Road. The nephew alleges that Deters was staring at him, and the nephew flipped him off. That’s when Eric Deters started to chase his nephew down the paved driveway in his truck through Sugar Ridge Farm. The nephew called his father, who then called the police.

A witness on the property said that a dark pickup truck was following the nephew’s truck across the farm property and got within a couple of feet of the truck. Security video footage showed that Deters drove behind his nephew’s truck and drove parallel to his truck across dirt roads that traverse the fields.

“[The nephew] stated that he purposefully drove past security cameras on the property for his own safety as he was being chased,” the police report reads.

Officers later contacted Eric Deters at his residence adjacent to the farm.

“Deters corroborated [the nephew’s] version of events,” the report reads.

“…after he flipped me off, I followed him. The little chickensh** wouldn’t get out of his truck,” Deters stated to police. “… he’s lucky he didn’t get his a** kicked.”

Community clean-up event scheduled at Doe Run Lake

Kenton County Parks & Recreation will hold a clean-up event at Doe Run Lake near Covington off KY-17 on March 25 from 9 a.m. to noon.

The event is part of the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission’s annual Ohio River Sweep, which sees similar events all along banks of the river between March and October.

According to a recent department press release, clean-up supplies, including garbage bags and gloves, will be provided. Volunteers are encouraged to bring their own hiking boots and kayaks if they have them.

Volunteers are not required to register beforehand, but they are encouraged to do so at the county’s online sign-up page. Anyone who has court-mandated community service hours is welcome to attend.

For more information about Kenton County events, visit the county’s webpage, (kentoncounty.org) and feel free to follow Kenton County Parks & Recreation on Facebook.

Life Learning Center to celebrate program graduates

named to Inc. Magazine’s fastest growing companies in the southeast list for 2023.

Diversified Capital Management in Newport, Motus Freight in Bellevue, and Step CG in Covington, were crowned among the fastest growing companies.

The list is a regionalized spinoff of the magazine’s famous Inc. 5000 list. In total, 1,125 companies from seven different United States regions were included. The criteria for making the list was based on revenue growth from 2019 to 2022.

Kentucky was placed in the southeast region along with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Puerto Rico. As a whole, the southeast region experienced 174% median revenue growth over the past two-year timespan.

The Life Learning Center, a wrap-around nonprofit in Covington, will hold a graduation ceremony on March 25 for the graduates of its Foundations for a Better Life program. The event will feature a cap & gown ceremony and a guest speech from Simon Chinnamuthu of Madison Avenue Christian Church.

“Life Learning Center’s transformational skills program, Foundations for a Better Life, focuses on addressing five domains of life: Physical, Financial, Spiritual, Emotional and Relational,” the organization said in a press release. “This essential skills curriculum assists low-income, unemployed, and underemployed individuals identify and overcome the barriers they are facing.”

The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. at the Life Learning Center and will be followed by a lunch. The event is free and open to the public, however, guests who wish to RSVP in advance may do so at the Life Learning Center’s sign-up page. Only guests who RSVP in advance will receive food during the lunch portion of the event.

Three NKY businesses featured on list of fastest growing southeast companies

Three Northern Kentucky companies were

Last year, six Northern Kentucky companies made the list, with Motus Freight being the only repeat inclusion. Other companies listed last year included LapTop of the Line in Walton, MACKEY in Bellevue, Blair Technology Group in Covington, LaurAsh in Covington and Refurb Ninja in Walton.

Juniper’s celebrates Covington opening with ribbon cutting

“Thanks for giving us another shot,” said Covington Vice Mayor Ron Washington to Vic and Lesley Hugo, co-founders of Juniper’s, Northern Kentucky’s first gin and tapas bar.

Also the founders of Crafts and Vines, the Hugos decided to open another bar in Covington’s historic MainStrasse neighborhood — this time, the establishment’s drinks would center around gin. After launching to the public on Jan. 6, Covington city officials wanted to give the bar a proper welcome with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Juniper’s is located on the first floor of the John R. Green Company building, a former school supplies store. Their menu includes a variety of gin cocktails, gin flights, multiple domestic and European beers, as well as rum and tequila.

For food, the menu features a rotating cast of global food items like Jamaican jerk chicken, shakshuka and British sausage rolls.

Norfolk Southern to pay millions for derailment

Premium spirits were always expensive and sought-after, but interest is surging. Distillers have upped production to try to meet increased demand, but before the whiskey reaches stores and bars, it must age for years and even decades. Each state gets a limited amount of Pappy Van Winkle 23-year-old, produced by Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery of Frankfort, Kentucky.

Utah, Virginia and Pennsylvania are among other states with lotteries for coveted liquor. Two men in Pennsylvania each bought a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle after winning the liquor lottery in different years. They tried to sell their bottles on Craigslist, but undercover officers posing as buyers nailed them for selling liquor without a license.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Josh Shapiro says Norfolk Southern has pledged several million dollars to cover the cost of the response and recovery in Pennsylvania after last month’s derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals just across the border in Ohio. Shapiro’s office said Monday that Norfolk Southern will pay $5 million to reimburse fire departments for equipment that was contaminated or damaged in the response and $1 million to Beaver and Lawrence counties to help business owners and residents whose livelihoods were damaged. The cleanup from the Feb. 3 derailment continues in East Palestine, Ohio, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Norfolk Southern to cover the costs of cleaning up.

As bourbon booms, thirst for rare brands breeds skullduggery

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The best bourbons are buttery, smooth and oaky, and a growing cult of aficionados is willing to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars to get their hands on scarce American spirits. Some are even willing to bend or break laws. In Oregon, a criminal investigation is under way after an internal probe concluded several state liquor officials used their clout to obtain scarce bourbons, including Pappy Van Winkle. Top-end bourbons have found themselves at the center of crimes in at least three other states, including Kentucky.

In Virginia, an employee of the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority downloaded confidential information about which state-run liquor shops would be receiving rare bourbons. An accomplice then sold the intel to Facebook groups of bourbon fans. The now-former employee pleaded guilty to felony computer trespass in September, received a suspended prison sentence and a fine, and was banned from all Virginia liquor stores.

In Kentucky, an employee of Buffalo Trace Distillery was arrested in 2015 for stealing bourbon, including Pappy, over several years and selling it. The caper became part of “Heist,” a Netflix miniseries, in 2021.

The cases underscore how the elite bourbon business is booming. An industry group says revenues for makers of super-premium American whiskey, including bourbon, grew 141% over the past five years.

After Taylor shooting, feds find police discrimination

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department has found Louisville police engaged in discrimination and a pattern of violating constitutional rights, after an investigation prompted by the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor. The announcement was made Wednesday by Attorney General Merrick Garland. A Justice Depart- ment report found the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government and Louisville Metro Police Department “engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of their rights under the Constitution and federal law.” Taylor was fatally shot as officers served a warrant at her home opened fire in March 2020. The shooting sparked protests in Louisville and around the nation.

4 Kentucky GOP governor candidates make pitches in TV debate

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Four of the candidates running in Kentucky’s Republican gubernatorial primary have faced off in a televised debate in which they took turns advocating conservative themes. Participants in the Tuesday night debate were Daniel Cameron, Ryan Quarles, Alan Keck and Mike Harmon. The four endorsed work by Kentucky’s GOP-dominated legislature to cut the state individual income tax. They also praised efforts to give parents a greater voice in education. And they took potshots at Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and President Joe Biden. The debate was hosted by the Jefferson County Republican Party and shown on Spectrum News 1.

Governor launches supply chain initiative for Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Gov. Andy Beshear has launched a supply chain initiative for Kentucky companies. He said Monday the “Supply Kentucky” effort aims to create a more interconnected Kentucky economy by matching manufacturers with suppliers. The goal is to bolster job growth, reduce manufacturing costs and create more secure supply chains. Manufacturing accounts for 12.5% of Kentucky’s workforce. A first step is an online “Supply Kentucky” platform with a searchable database of the state’s suppliers and manufacturers. The portal is open now for companies to register. It should enable companies to search for other companies to satisfy their supply chain needs.

Local Brownie troop earns badges for democracy

Brownie Troop 2907 visited Erlanger’s council chambers and spoke with Mayor Jessica Fette before the city’s council meeting on Tuesday, March 7. Earning their Democracy Badges, the troop posed for photos with the mayor, sporting their brown vests and new merits.

Curiosity and cuddly cats

Fans of cats and children’s movies found their niche at the Purrfect Day Cat Cafe in Covington on March 7, when the cafe hosted a Disney and Pixar movie-themed trivia night. Guests filled out their answers on clipboards while adoptable cats did their best to distract them.

Since opening in November 2020, the cat cafe has adopted out more than 1,700 cats to purrfect furever homes. The cafe adopts cats from local partners Kenton County Animal Services, Paws Rescue in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, Cincinnati Animal Care, and the League of Animal Welfare, and is open from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, noon to 9 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday.

Southgate lays to rest its oldest firefighter

On the night of Tuesday, Feb. 28, 93-yearold Southgate firefighter and Navy veteran Melvin “Mel” Whitehead was last seen at the Southgate VFW Post 3186, his daily hangout where he’d have a few beers.

Around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 1, firefighters found him deceased on the side of Route 8 in Fort Thomas, lying next to his car. It’s believed he got confused heading home to Grand Towers in Fort Thomas because he was in a section closed to through traffic. His car wasn’t damaged and he didn’t have any obvious injuries.

Southgate Fire Chief John Beatsch told

LINK nky said his cause of death is presumed to be health-related. Given his age, Beatsch said his death doesn’t come as a shock, but “it’s still sad he died like that.”

Whitehead was Southgate’s oldest living member of the fire department. He joined in 1969 and started off as a volunteer. He later left firefighting and EMS and became the department’s photographer.

After retiring around 2012, Whitehead attended meetings, maintained the right to vote and helped with fundraisers. Aside from working for the fire department, Whitehead also worked for the Campbell County Cable Board and filmed city council meetings.

He is one of five other firefighters with 50 years of volunteer service who has his name on a bench located outside the fire department building.

“I joined the fire department in 1972, so Mel was already there,” Beatsch said. “The entire time I’ve been there, Mel’s been there. When I needed pictures, he would give me pictures. He was a good old guy … Mel was an inspiration for the younger guys to see a guy that old who still took an interest.”

Steve Bridewell, president of Southgate’s Optimist Club, said his father was a firefighter, and through him he knew Whitehead his entire life. Whitehead was also a member of the Optimist Club, and Bridewell would see Whitehead at Tri-State Photographic Society meetings.

“He was a quiet guy who never really made no gruff about nothing,” Bridewell said.

Whitehead’s wife Carolyn preceded him in death. He leaves behind two sons, a brother, five grandkids, and six great-grandkids.

A mass was held for Whitehead on March 8 at St. Therese Church in Southgate.