News from May
12, 2005 issue
Berlin
Crisis unit holds reunion
They'll have hours of stories to tell and lots of speculation
about what might have happened had they continued toward Germany
during the height of the Cold War in the early 1960s. For the
men of Company D 123rd Medium Tank Battalion, next month's reunion
is long overdue.
The Marion Kentucky National Guard Unit that was activated in
September and October of 1961 will gather June 11 at the armory
named for one its late soldiers, First Sergeant Carson Davidson.
After 43 years, a small group of former local guardsmen decided
to begin planning a reunion of the more than 100 men who were
called up during the Berlin Crisis.
Randall Chandler, a private in the company, said that he and former
Sgt. John Wardlaw were talking about their experiences recently
during a funeral.
"We were reminiscing and I said, 'John, let's just do it.
Let's have a reunion," Chandler said.
The two of them contacted Ed Runyan, 86, who was the commander
of the unit. Runyan and two others who still live in Marion, C.L.
McDaniel and Richard Small, agreed to help plan the event.
The group is making phone calls to all of the men in the area
who served with the unit, and they are enlisting those and others
in helping to locate some of the men who have moved away from
the area. Anyone who knows how to contact a guardsman from the
unit should contact one of the committee members.
The reunion will last from 9 a.m., until 4 p.m., for any who want
to stay that long and there will be a catered meal at noon. The
committee is urging everyone to bring photographs or other memorabilia
from their mobilization.
The tank unit was called to duty along with nearly 150,000 guardsmen
and reservists from across the country during a standoff between
Soviet and Western powers in Berlin. Although the unit was never
shipped overseas, it came awfully close several times.
The men were on active duty for 10 months and spent the entire
time undergoing intensive training at Fort Knox day and night.
There were 81 men from the local unit and another two dozen from
across the country that were attached to the company during the
deployment. Most of the men from outside of the unit that were
brought in were from the Northeast, Chandler said, mostly from
Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. The committee is trying
to contact them, too.
The guardsmen were largely from Marion and the surrounding area.
Several were from Union, Webster, Caldwell and Livingston counties.
The committee has identified about 18 men from the unit who are
no longer living.
Chandler said the local guard unit has been deployed four times
in its history, which is quite uncommon for a small-town company.
Here is a list of the men from Marion and the vicinity who served
with the unit when it was deployed:
1961 GUARD
MEMBERS
Cpt. Edward A. Runyan
Cpt. Robert T. Kelley
1LT James T. Hatfield
1LT Carol L. McDaniel
1LT Billy J. Williams
2LT Richard S. Small
2LT Billy J. Wardlaw
1SG Carson G. Davidson
PSG Raymond D. Franks
PSG Kenneth R. Peck
PSG Forrest D. Teer
SSG George A. Hardin
SSG Hobart G. Roberts
SSG Byron Settle
SSG Amzia M. Wheeler
SGT Otto E. Chittenden
SGT Maurice D. Farmer
SGT Billy S. Hale
SGT Donnie Hunt
SGT Fred N. Templeton
SGT John M. Wardlaw
SGT Ronald J. Wells
SGT Arnold R. Young
SP5 Gary B. Armstrong
SP5 Lenard J. Belt
SP5 Wendell C. Belt
SP5 Carlos B. Bond
SP5 Archie B. Campbell
SP5 Thomas H. Carter
SP5 Donald R. Cosby
SP5 Chastain L. Frazer
SP5 Malcom E. Hunt
SP5 Albert F. Lamb
SP5 Charles E. McDowell
SP5 Allen D. Martin
SP5 Billie E. Travis
SP5 Jimmy R. Mitchell
SP5 Allen P. Summers
SP5 Donald A. Travis
SP5 Donald E. Watson
SP4 Robert B. Belt
SP4 Alvin D. Sutton
SP4 James H. Bigham
SP4 James E. Cannon
SP4 Earl G. Cosby
SP4 William A. Cothran
SP4 Robert R. Dickerson
SP4 Theodore R. Feagan
SP4 Earl Hazel
SP4 Charles W. Hina
SP4 Billy K. Lee
SP4 Douglas A. Millikan
SP4 Jewell K. Myers
SP4 Gerald O'Neal
SP4 John C. Padon
SP4 Robert F. Roberts
SP4 Gerald W. Tabor
SP4 Jimmie R. Travis
SP4 Ralph W. Watson
SP4 Leroy Wheeler
SP4 James F. Winders
PFC Jerry L. Abell
PFC Charles R. Barnard
PFC Alben T. Bennett
PFC Phillip N. Brown
PFC Johnny R. Chandler
PFC Charles R. Croft
PFC David G. Griggs
PFC Sam M. Hodge
PFC Ronald C. Hooks
PFC Marvin Hunt
PFC James E. Jones
PFC Hollis D. Owen
PFC William R. Quertermous
PFC Robert W. Sigler
PFC Donald H. Tabor
PFC Corbitt E. Travis
PFC Newman R. Travis
PFC Bennett R. Wright
PFC James H. Bannister
PFC Jerry D. Timmons
County's population on decline
Crittenden County had the second greatest population decline in
Kentucky between 2000 and 2004, according to new Census data.
The number of residents in the county now, 8,999, dropped below
9,000 for the first time since 1987 when there were 8,901 Crittenden
Countians, according to the Kentucky State Data Center.
The population has gradually declined since 2000, when Crittenden's
population was 9,402.
Only Fulton County had a greater population decrease between 2000
and 2004, data show.
There are a couple of reasons for the decline, according to Ron
Crouch, director of the Kentucky State Data Center based at the
University of Louisville.
Obviously, there is an out-migration of people, but much of the
population decline results from a greater annual number of deaths
than births.
For example, between 2000 and 2004, the number of deaths (532)
outnumbered births (373), resulting in a natural decrease in population.
Other people are leaving Crittenden County for employment, he
said.
Baby Boomers, or Americans ages 40-59 make up the largest population
segment (2,640 individuals), and they are outside the child-bearing
years, Crouch explains. In fact, in 2003 the largest segment of
the population was comprised of 45-49 year olds.
What in-migration there is into Crittenden County results from
retirees moving into the area instead of people moving into the
community to work.