Catching Up With a Hero

A member of a retired United States Marine Corps was in Albany, Kentucky today and while here, presented a copy of the book, "Korea Reborn: A Grateful Nation Honors War Veterans For More Than 60 Years of Growth," to James E. Morrison, who was a Master Sargeant, a non-commissioned officer with Co. C, 23rd Infantry 2nd Division. Morrison demonstrated exceptional valor when he distinguished himself by leading his troops in an attack on Heartbreak Ridge on Sept. 2, 1951. For weeks, his platoon had been completely surrounded by North Korean troops. Before being rescued by a Calvary Division, his Silver Star citation says he continuously exposed himself to enemy fire to direct his troops. At one point, he did not hesitate to carry one his wounded officers back to the first aid station, even though he himself was wounded by a grenade during the evacuation of that officer. Refusing to be evacuated himself, Master Sargeant Morrison continued leading his platoon during violent enemy fire until they were in consolidated positions on the seized objective. During this action, he was also given the French Croix de Guerre by the United Nations French Ground Forces. The book, presented by the KIA Motor Company, is dedicated to U.S. Veterans of the Korean War and their families, thanking them for their service.

"Roy Clark, Thanks For Coming"

I don't know whose idea it was to form the Hee Haw Gospel Quartet, but boy was it a good one. Formed In the late 1970s, the quartet consisted of Roy Clark, Buck Owens, Grandpa Jones and Kenny Price. They would gather around a microphone and sing a gospel hymn at the end of the show's last segment. Several of the quartet's performances were released as recordings. We had two albums at WANY and we played them a lot. When Elmer Goodman died Sid Scott told me he had regretted not taking him into a recording studio with The Singjng DJ's and recording a gospel album in Hee Haw Quartet fashion. That would have been awesome.

Yesterday when I first heard that Roy Clark, a Grammy-winning country music singer-guitarist, had died of pneumonia complications at the age of 85, I immediately thought of the Hee Haw Gospel Quartet.

Clark was born on April 15, 1933 in Meherrin, VA, but his family moved to Washington, D.C. when he was a kid. His father played in a square dance band and took him to free concerts by the National Symphony and by military bands. “I was subjected to different kinds of music before I ever played,” Clark once said. “Dad said, ‘Never turn your ear off to music until your heart hears it — because then you might hear something you like.”

Roy started playing the guitar when he was 14 years old. In the early days of his career, he performed with banjo player David “Stringbean" Akeman. He said, "We would play drive-in theaters, standing on top of the concession stand. If the people liked it, they'd honk their horns."

Roy began making records in 1954. It didn't take long for people to sit up and take notice of his guitar playing. In the mid 1950s, he honed his television chops as a regular on Country Style, the D.C.-based television show hosted by Jimmy Dean, eventually taking over as host after Dean relocated to New York

. His big break came in 1960, when he was invited to Las Vegas to open for Wanda Jackson. After her band broke up, Clark hired her manager, who secured him appearances on The Tonight Show and Beverly Hillbillies. Clark was guest host on “The Tonight Show” several times in the 1960s and 1970s, a rarity for a country performer at that time. Yankee's baseball great Mickey Mantle was moved to tears when he heard Roy sing “Yesterday When I Was Young” and for years made Clark promise to sing it at his memorial, a request granted when Mantle died in 1995.

His first hit single came in 1963 with his recording of the Bill Anderson song, "Tips of my Fingers." He scored a huge hit in 1969 with one of his most beloved recordings, "Yesterday When I Was Young." He followed that up in 1970 with, "Thank God and Greyhound She's Gone." His 1973 hit "Come Live With Me," went to #1. His recording of "Alabama Jubilee" won him a Grammy Award in 1982. He was also known for his instrumental versions of “Malaguena,” on 12-string guitar, and “Ghost Riders in the Sky.”

As if his pickin' the banjo or the guitar wasnt enough, Roy's sense of humor captured the hearts of his fans. In a 1966 appearance on the TV show, Swingin’ Country, the host, Rusty Draper, asked him, “About how long have you been performing?“ Without skipping a beat, Clark said, “About three months.”

The music-comedy TV show, Hee Haw, greatly impacted a whole generation of people, thanks largely to one of Kornfield Kounty's most popular residents, the show's co-host, Roy Clark. CBS launched Hee Haw in summer 1969 as country music’s answer to Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In. Each episode was filled with country music stars and down-home comedy skits. It lasted three seasons on the network before moving to syndication, where it aired for 22 more years.

Hee Haw was theme-based on rural culture, although it was not limited to a rural audience. It was successful in all of the major markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Chicago.

The show provided a lot of laughs, and plenty of country music. Buck and Roy hosted the show through most of its run for most of its run. Their dialogue at the beginning of each show became one of most popular quotes ever: "I'm a-pickin' (Buck Owens)and I'm a-grinnin' (Roy Clark.

My favorite Roy Clark skit was set in a barber shop with Archie Campbell, a barber, cutting Roy's hair as he told one if his stories, like the one about Rindercella, her mugly other, two sad bisters and a very prandsom hince, or how about the "Oh that's good, no that's bad" gag? There was also the one where Roy would raise up from behind the counter to exclaim "Empty Arms Hotel!" Clark said Hee Haw capped off his career. “This was the icing on the cake," he said. This put my face and name together.” Another favorite of mine was the lamentful song "Gloom, Despair and Agony on Me," featuring Roy Clark, Buck Owens, Gordie Tapp and Archie Campbell.

Roy Clark was member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Grand Ole Opry and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He also won the Acedemy of Country Music’s Pioneer Award. Beginning in 1983, Roy opened the Roy Clark Celebrity Theatre in Branson, Missouri, and was one of the first country entertainers to open a theater there. Dozens followed him.

Roy was all about spreading love and good cheer. One of my all-time favorite quotes came when he said, "The next chance you get, do somethin' nice for somebody - say 'good day,' hold a door open - and don't wait around for a thank you...you don't need it." If only we would all do that, the world would be a better place. Roy must have known that.

He appreciated his fans and always let them know that he did. At the end of his concerts, he would tell the audience: “We had to come, but you had a choice. Thanks for being here.”

Yes, we had a choice and we chose you, Roy Clark. Thanks for coming. We were not let down. Thank you for the music, and for the laughs.

I close my story with the Hee Haw Gospel Quartet singing a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace, featuring Charlie McCoy on harmonica.

One Autumnal Face

The Cheyenne Social Club

The Cheyenne Social Club is a 1970 western comedy film directed and produced by Gene Kelly and starring James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Shirley Jones and Sue Ane Langdon. Set in 1867, it's about an aging cowboy, John O'Hanlan who inherits a brothel and decides to turn it into a respectable boarding house, against the wishes of both the townspeople and the ladies working there.

O'Hanlan (Stewart) and Harley Sullivan (Fonda) leave their jobs working on open cattle ranges in Texas to make the 1,000 mile trek to Cheyenne. Along the way, they engage in quite an interesting conversation, except it's Sullivan who does most of the talking.

Harley Sullivan: "I remember when I was about twelve years old. My daddy asked me, he says, 'What do you want to be when you grow up, Little Harley?' And like a fool, I said a cowboy. I've been making wrong moves ever since."

Harley Sullivan: "Did I ever tell ya how my Uncle Charlie got stoved up?"
John O'Hanlan: "No, Harley."
Harley Sullivan: "His home set right out in the prarie. One day he went in the outhouse and got caught right in the middle of a stampede. When he went in there wasn't a cow in sight. A few minutes late 365 longhorns ran over him. Broke him up something terrrible. That was nineteen years ago and he's still constipated."

John O'Hanlan: "Harley, did you ever get married?"
Harley Sullivan: "Yes, John, I did."
John O'Hanlan: "Well, I never knew it."
Harley Sullivan: "Well, John, it ain't something I like to talk about, but I was married once. And once is enough for any man. You can't smoke, chew, dip, drink, scratch in the parlor, or cuss. When you leave the house, they ask you where'd you go. And when you come home, they ask you where have you been. And right now with you, it is just like when I was married."
John O'Hanlan: "Why, how is that, Harley?"
Harley Sullivan: "Well, John, when a woman's talking to you, you can be pretty sure that she thinks she's in control. And when she's not talking to you, you can be pretty certain you're in control. Take Helen. She had flame red hair, pitch black eyes, ruby lips and no teeth - but talk about a body! She could straddle two horses at the same time. I went with her until I found out she dipped snuff. There's something awful unfemale about a snuff dipper - don't you think so, John?"

John O'Hanlan: "Harley, I want you to do me a favor. Don't ever tell anyone here in Cheyenne I voted Democratic. You'll do that for me, won't you?"
Harley Sullivan: "If you say so."
John O'Hanlan: "Thank you."
Harley Sullivan: "John, you don't mind if I still vote Democratic, do you?"
John O'Hanlan: "Just so long as you're not seen with me when you do it. Be bad for business."

John O'Hanlan: "What are you lookin' at?"
Harley Sullivan: "You."
John O'Hanlan: "Why?"
Harley Sullivan: "I don't know. You look different some how."
John O'Hanlan: "What do you mean different?"
Harley Sullivan: "John, its kind of hard for me to put my finger on."
John O'Hanlan: "Well, try Harley. Use 'em all."

Harley Sullivan: "Hank Jameson had fourteen brothers and sisters. She only had three toes on her left foot. I remember one day..."
John O'Hanlan: "Harley, who only had three toes on her left foot?
Harley Sullivan: "Hank's sister, Cora B. Cora B. Jameson was her name. Folks used to pay her to take her shoe off."

Harley Sullivan: You just ain't the man you was yesterday. At least ways not from where I stand."
John O'Hanlan: "Well, maybe you're not standin' in the right place Harley! What do you mean I'm not the man today I was yesterday?"
Harley Sullivan: "Just, like you lost yourself when you took a bath!"

Fonda drones on and on as the pair travel across the vast Western landscape, about his family and dogs and heaven knows what all else. Finally...

John O'Hanlan: “You know where we are now, Harley?”
Harley Sullivan: “Not exactly.”
John O'Hanlan: “We’re in the Wyoming Territory and you’ve been talkin’ all the way from Texas.”
Harley Sullivan: “Just been keepin’ you company.”
John O'Hanlan: “I appreciate it, Harley, but if you say another word the rest of the day I’m gonna kill you.”

William Christian Shearer Was Well Respected

My 4th great-grandfather, William Christian Shearer's, roots can be traced back to Northern Ireland. According to the 1938 book, "A Century of Wayne County, Kentucky, 1800 -1900," by Augusta Phillips Johnson, sometime around 1740, four brothers: George, John, William, James, and their families came to America from near Ulster, Ireland.

William settled in what became Wilkes County, N.C., where, according to Geni.com, his son, William Christian Shearer, served with the 16th Regiment during the American Revolution. It says after migrating to Wayne County, KY around 1812, he and his son, Jacob, ran a freight line that transported household goods, machinery and merchandise between Monticello and Louisville. It said that he was educated and well liked in the community and that he set up and conducted the first Bible study class in Wayne County.

William was married twice, first to Hannah Hoover, who died in North Carolina, then to Sallie Walters. He reportedly had numerous children with both wives. His son, Daniel, was the father of Margaret Shearer Huffaker. Her daughter, Hettie, married U.S. "Grant" Frost. They were the parents of my grandmother, Vada Boles. Christian and his son, Jacob, and Christian's wife, Sallie, are all buried at Bethesda Cemetery. Christian's granddaughter, Margaret, and her husband, Henry Clay Huffaker, my great, great-grandparents, are also buried at Bethesda Cemetery.

Chapter five of the book, "A Century of Wayne County, Kentucky, 1800 -1900," tells that in 1828, Christian Shearer's son, Daniel, my 3rd great-grandfather helped to build a church at Pleasant Bend, now Cooper. In the book, author Augusta Phillips Johnson wrote that Daniel's son, Adam Napolean Shearer, then a lad of nine, remembered going with his father to do this. They called it the Church of Christ. In 1852, they organized and planned to build a church in Shearer Valley. The Civil War came on and this house was not completed until the war was over, but enough was done that the soldiers camped in it during the war. This house stands yet, and members of the Church of Christ meet there for worship. Jenkins Shearer, and later Daniel Shearer, preached in this church. Daniel B. Shearer was born on May 12, 1791 and died on April 21, 1865, at the age of 73. He and his wife, Margaret Vickery Shearer, are buried at Shearer Valley Cemetery.

Be A Winner!

Remember the football gag where Lucy tells Charlie Brown that she will hold a football while he kicks it?

"KICK THE FOOTBALL, CHARLIE BROWN!"

At first, he refuses because he doesn't trust her. Eventually, she talks him into it and, just as he is about to kick the ball, Lucy picks it up.

"AAUGH!"

...yelled Charlie Brown as he went flying through the air, followed by...

"WHAM!"

...as he hit the ground.

The message was clear...

"DON'T GIVE UP!"

While Charlie Brown may not have ever kicked the football held by Lucy, he never stopped trying.

So it is with life, where the impossible can become possible if we are determined enough to not quit.

Never stop trying...a quitter never wins, but a winner never quits.

Be a winner!

YOU CAN DO IT!

Life is not measured by the amount of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away."

Such was the moment that day as I walked across the parking lot of the grocery store when - above the hustle and bustle of the busy street that lay behind me, above the noise of the shoppers walking to and fro from the store in front of me - suddenly, I heard the voice of a child calling out my name over and over again.

I looked toward the store in front of me and saw nothing. I looked toward the street behind me and saw nothing, I looked to my left and still nothing. I thought that perhaps the voice I had heard was only my imagination, that is until I looked to my right.

Across the street in the school yard there had to be at least a hundred kids enjoying recess and, right in the midst of all those children, I saw one solitary outstretched arm reaching up toward the sky and the hand that was attached to it was waving frantically at me!

It was then that I realized the voice calling out my name belonged to my niece, Chrissy. My first thought was, "My, what great eye sight you have!" My second thought was, "My, what a great set of lungs you have!" Better to love me with, I decided, as I held up both my arms and frantically waved back to her. I smiled as I turned to walk toward the store, wiping away a couple of tears as I went inside.

Later, as I recalled that wonderful event, I remembered something I once read by the Italian poet, Cesare Pavese: "We do not remember days, we remember moments." What happened that day with Chrissy was one of those moments.

Unexpected, but pleasurable.

Tribute to a Kentucky Farm Boy

Burt Reynolds Was A Friend To Country Music

He was one of Hollywood’s most popular leading men during the ’70s and early ’80s, yet Burt Reynolds was a friend to country music.

Widely acclaimed as a landmark picture, the 1972 film, Deliverance, which co-starred Reynolds, is noted for the music scene near the beginning, with one of the city men playing "Dueling Banjos" on guitar with a banjo-strumming country boy, that sets the tone for what lies ahead. Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith wrote the original piece, "Feudin' Banjos" in 1955 and recorded it with banjo player Don Reno. Dueling Banjos” soared to #5 on the country charts in 1973 for Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell. The Deliverance soundtrack also includes several well-known country and bluegrass songs, like Old Joe Clark, Eight More Miles To Louisville, Farewell Blues, Earl's Breakdown, Fire On The Mountain, Bugle Call Rag, Mountain Dew and Rawhide.

In 1975, he starred in the picaresque film, W. W. and the Dixie Dance Kings. It abounded with country artists, including Jerry Reed, Don Williams, Mel Tillis and Roni Stoneman. Tillis sang "The Losing End," Conny Van Dyke sang "Harbor Lights" and Hank Locklin's "Send Me The Pillow That You Dream On," Jerry Reed sang "Blues Stay Away From Me," "My Bucket's Got A Hole In It" and the Stonewall Jackson hit "My Bucket's Got A Hole in It."

Jerry Reed became a close friend of Reynolds during the filming of W. W. and the Dixie Dance Kings and he tapped him for the 1976 movie, Gator, where he sang “The Ballad Of Gator McKlusky." That movie also featured “For A Little While” by Bobby Goldsboro.

Reynolds dated Tammy Wynette briefly during 1977, the same year that "Smokey & the Bandit" came out. It co-starred Reed and featured him singing the theme song, 'East Bound and Down.' The Smokey & the Bandit II soundtrack in 1980 featured 'Charlotte's Web' and "Do You Know You Are My Sunshine" by The Statler Brothers, 'Pecos Promenade' by Tanya Tucker, 'Tulsa Time' and "To Be Your Man" by Don Williams, 'Pecos Cowboy, Ride' and "Ride Concrete Cowboy, Ride" by Roy Rogers with the Sons of the Pioneers, "Here's Lookin' at You" by Mel Tillis and "Texas Bound and Flyin'" by Jerry Reed.

Reynolds scored two movie releases in 1977. The other one was "Semi Tough," which featured the music of Gene Autry, "Here Comes Santa Claus," "Don't Bite The Hand That's Feeding You," "Back in the Saddle Again," You're The Only Good Thing (That's Happened To Me), among others.

Reynolds co-starred with Dolly Parton in the 1982 musical comedy film hit, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, which included two of Dolly's compositions: "Sneakin' Around", which she performed as a duet with Reynolds and a reworking of her 1974 classic "I Will Always Love You," which topped the country chart in September 1982. Unlike the original version, the 1982 release crossed over to the Pop and Adult Contemporary charts as well.

The 1983 film "Stroker Ace" featured the Marshall Tucker Band songs, "Southern Loving" and "Victim Of Life's Circumstances." The Charlie Daniels Band sang the theme song, "Stroker Ace," Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers sang "What Have We Got To Lose" and Terri Gibbs sang "I Feel A Heartache Comin' On."

While Burt Reynolds did lot for country music and he did even more for the people who sang it. It was an ideal arrangement. For example, look what he did for Jerry Reed's career. But, look what Jerry Reed did for Burt.

Validation.

They weren't just co-stars. They didn't just sing in a Burt Reynolds movie. They were close friends. Just as Clint Eastwood had done in "Every Which Way But Loose," Burt made sure Mel Tillis made it into "Smokey and the Bandit II" and "Cannonball Run." He made sure Don Williams songs were on the soundtracks.

And what did Don Williams do for Burt Reynolds?

"Oh, and if you see Burt Reynolds Would you shake his hand for me And tell ol' Burt I've seen all his movies" "If Hollywood Don't Need You (I Still Do) by Don Williams

Validation.

Upon hearing about his death, Reba McEntire, who worked with Reynolds in the 1993 TV movie, "The Man From Left Field," tweeted, "My good friend has started a new journey. Rest in my peace, my friend. I’ll never forget the wonderful times we spent together."

Seeing God Through Joe Elmore

To the so-called believer who said he didn't see anything that said God was behind the finding of Pfc. Joe Elmore's remains:

You weren't there with us to witness seeing the hundreds of people who came to the side of the road to welcome Pfc. Elmore as we made our journey home with him. Some were dressed in their red, white and blue, some carried flags of all sizes, and some stood at attention to salute our hero soldier. Some clapped while others waved. Some even weeped.

Psalm 46:10 says "Be still, and know that I am God." Mary did just that. She prayed for 68 years that God would bring her brother home. All the while, she became resolute and unswerving in her task. Through the decades, she steadfastly persisted and as her faith became stronger, she undoubtedly grew closer to God. Mary learned to endure and, most importantly, she never gave up. A faith unwavering and unshakable, that was God working in Mary's life.

I was there on that day when Mary and her husband, Buford, stood beside the casket that rested on the airplane's conveyer belt. I saw her weeping and I remembered how she had prayed all those years. That was my first glimpse of God in all His Glory that day.

I saw Him again after our motorcade turned onto Highway 111 from Interstate 40 at Cookeville and proceeded northward to U.S. 127 at the Kentucky state line and then on to the destination at Weldon Haddix Funeral Home.

Oh ye of little faith, you weren't there so you wouldn't have noticed, like we did, that the overwhelming majority of those folks standing alongside Highway 111 and U.S. 127 were born 'AFTER' Pfc. Joe Elmore had died in battle. Generations of people who never knew Joe saw God in all His glory that day. His message to the large crowds of people who came to see someone they never even knew was, "Look at what I did for his sister, Mary! If I can do this for her, imagine all the things I can do for you!"

I realize the family wouldn't have had to wait 68 years, and Pfc. Elmore's mom, dad, brothers and sisters would gave gotten to bury him, fully intact had his body been returned that December back in 1950, but then God wouldn't have been able to reveal Himself the way He did on August 15, 2018.

You see, God's ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. I believe God answered Mary's prayers so that He could be glorified. She was an example of Leviticus 10:3, which says "I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified."

Thousands of people saw God in all His glory on both television and in person the day Mary and her family brought Pfc. Elmore's remains home. I was honored to be there to witness it myself.

"For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen." - Romans 11:36

Finding Joe Elmore

Mary Bowlin prayed for 68 years that her brother Joe's remains would be found. She was 15 years old when he was officially declared Missing in Action during the Korean War.

Joe Stanton Elmore, the son of Ambrose and Bertha York Elmore, was born in the Neathery/Cave Springs area of Clinton County, Ky on January 27, 1930. There is a group photo of Cave Springs School from 1939 that shows him at age nine standing on the back row. The school was located on Albany Landing Road. Later, his family would move to the Seminary community near there.

He was 20 years old when he decided to join the Army. According to Mary, he said, "I want to serve my God and my country." Before the war in North Korea, Joe had never been out of the state of Kentucky, except for the occasional trip to Byrdstown to see a picture show. He had been assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, where he eventually became Private First Class Joe Elmore.

In late November 1950, Joe and approximately 2,500 other U.S. and 700 South Korean soldiers, primarily infantry, artillery and tank units, assembled into the 31st Regimental Combat Team, which was deployed along the eastern shore of North Korea in the South Hamgyong Province. On the 27th, about 120,000 Chinese troops surprised 30,000 U. S. troops and a few troops representing the United Nations. A brutal 17-day battle in freezing weather soon followed. The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, as it came to be called, was fought between Nov. 27th and Dec. 13th. On Dec. 2nd, the 31st Regimental Combat Team, later called Task Force Faith, was destroyed. Pfc. Elmore was declared MIA on Dec. 2, 1950 and was presumed dead on Dec. 31, 1953.

Numerous remains of soldiers who died during the Korean War were eventually sent to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as The Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii where they were interred only to be exhumed and kept in a forensic lab in the mid to late 1990's, following the creation of the Korean War Missing DNA Project. In 1995, Mary and her sister, Lola Smith, who died in 2012, submitted their DNA to that project. The Army found Elmore’s remains five years ago and informed Mary that they were 99.9% sure the remains were that of her brother.

Finally, on July 5th, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency informed Mary that the DNA she and her sister had provided all those years ago was a 100% match to the remains that the Army had located. They had accounted for the remains of her long lost brother. After 68 years, Mary's prayers had been answered.

Joe Elmore's remains will be flown home on August 15th. On August 17th, he will finally be laid to rest near his family at Story Cemetery, on the same Albany Landing Road, where he had received his schooling as a child.