West Virginia
Progress being made on Vietnam War documentary in locating veterans' families – WV MetroNews
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A man working on a documentary called “Bring Them Home” focused around tracking down West Virginia MIA Vietnam War Veterans and their families says he’s making some headway with the project.
Calvin Grimm came on 580 Live recently to discuss the progress being made with the film project and the attempt to locate the 17 missing in action Vietnam vets from West Virginia.
He said he was happy to finally locate Sergeant Jimmy Taylor and his family in Indiana and will be going out there this week to get an in-person interview with them.
Sergeant Taylor, who is from Nitro, went missing in Vietnam in 1966. He’s now 83.
Grimm said up until just the other day, the effort to find Taylor’s whereabouts seemed to be going nowhere.
“We were just kind of hitting dead ends left and right, we knew that he had five brothers, but there’s only one left now, and that’s why we were having such trouble tracking them down,” Grimm said.
Finally, however, he said he received a call from one of Taylor’s relatives who is still living in the Nitro area and they got him in touch with Taylor and his family in Indiana, who relocated there between 20 to 30 years ago.
Grimm said he had to talk to Taylor’s wife for the majority of the conversation over-the-phone, as Taylor has been battling health issues.
He said his wife shared how Taylor’s mother took the news that Taylor went missing and it was tragic.
“She put it that she died of sadness,” Grimm said. “Jimmy Taylor went missing in 1966, she passed away by the next summer of 67, and she was in relatively good health, it just screwed her up that bad.”
He said most of Taylor’s brothers were in the military as well, and one of them happened to be home on leave when the family got the notification that he was MIA.
Grimm said Taylor deserves the ultimate badge of honor for everything he’s been through during the war.
“There were two other veterans at that battle where he went missing who earned the Medal of Honor,” he said. “I think Taylor should have gotten the Medal of Honor from what I can tell.”
Grimm said one of the Green Berets with Taylor at the time, who later received the Medal of Honor, Bennie Adkins wrote a book called The Tiger Among Us where he describes the events surrounding Taylor’s MIA.
While he said Adkins unfortunately passed away a few years ago, Grimm is currently working on trying to contact some of the few surviving Green Beret members for an interview who were there at the time as well.
Earlier, Grimm said he got to interview the niece of Airman First Class Marshall Pauley who went missing in Laos also in 1966.
Grimm said ten years ago, Pauley’s aircraft wreckage was located and recently, his dog tags were found. However, he said they have not yet found his remains, so he is unfortunately still left unaccounted for.
He said they are also in the process of trying to track down a couple other veteran’s families who were from the central West Virginia region as well.
One is Lietenant John Albright of Huntington who went missing in 1968. Grimm said his aircraft also went down in Laos.
He said Sergenat James Duncan is another whose family they are still working on trying to locate.
“He was Army, he was Infantry, they were reinforcing a South Vietnamese unit,” Grimm said. “From all accounts, he was killed in action and they buried his body at the battle site, but they were never able to recover it for whatever reason.”
Grimm said people can find updates regarding the documentary on its Facebook Page, “Bring Them Home: The Stories of Our Missing in Action Vietnam Veterans.” He said they will have a website up for the film project very soon.
Another successful weekend for the West Virginia Mountaineers results in another slight bump up in the top 25 rankings. WVU took two of three from Kennesaw State on the road, allowing them to slide up to No. 23 in D1Baseball’s new batch of rankings.
D1Baseball’s Top 25 for Week 3
1. UCLA
2. LSU
3. Texas
4. Mississippi State
5. Georgia Tech
6. Arkansas
7. Auburn
8. North Carolina
9. Florida
10. Southern Miss
11. Georgia
12. Oklahoma
13. NC State
14. Clemson
15. Wake Forest
16. Coastal Carolina
17. TCU
18. Oregon State
19. Tennessee
20. Florida State
21. Kentucky
22. Texas A&M
23. West Virginia
24. Miami
25. UTSA
Missed opportunity
West Virginia had a 6-0 lead in game three of its series against Kennesaw State, looking well on their way to a clean three-game sweep of the Owls.
Unfortunately for Steve Sabins, the bullpen imploded following another strong five-inning outing from the big lefty Maxx Yehl. Bryson Thacker, Carson Estridge, and David Perez combined to give up four runs on five hits over the final three innings, allowing the Owls to steal Sunday’s game.
The loss frustrated West Virginia fans and rightfully so, but there’s no need to panic. The name of the game is to continue winning the series. You do that, you’ll find yourself in a position to make the NCAA Tournament and earn a high seed. Obviously, you don’t want to blow the opportunity of a sweep, especially when you’re up 6-0, but it’s not a loss that is going to ruin their resume. Losing the series, on the other hand, would have.
What’s next for the Mountaineers?
No single mid-week game this week for West Virginia. Instead, they’ll play a quick two-game series against Radford at home beginning Tuesday. They’ll get one day of rest before opening up a three-game series at home against Columbia, which will be the final series of non-conference play. WVU will have a single mid-week game against Maryland on Tuesday, March 10th, before beginning Big 12 action on the road against Baylor.
The full remaining schedule
Mar. 2-4 Radford
Mar. 6-8 Columbia
Mar 10 Maryland
Mar 13-15 at Baylor
Mar. 17 Penn State
Mar. 29-21 BYU
Mar. 24 at Marshall
Mar. 27-29 at Arizona State
Mar. 31 at Arizona
Apr. 3-5 UCF
Apr. 7 Marshall
Apr. 10-12 at Texas Tech
Apr. 15 at Penn State
Apr. 17-19 Houston
Apr. 21 Pitt
Apr. 24-26 at Cincinnati
Apr. 29 at Penn State
May 1-3 Kansas State
May 5 Marshall (Charleston, WV)
May 8-10 at Kansas
May 14-16 TCU
May 20-23 Big 12 Championship (Surprise, AZ)
West Virgnia built a six-run lead through five and half innings, but the Kennesaw State Owls (5-5) scored seven unanswered runs in three frames to knock off the Mountaineers (8-2) Sunday afternoon 7-6.
West Virginia captured an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first after sophomore Matt Ineich hit a leadoff single before sophomore Gavin Kelly and senior Paul Schoenfeld were issued walks to load the bases with two outs on the board. Then, redshirt freshman Ryan Maggy line a two-RBI single to centerfield in his first career start.
The Mountaineers extended their lead in the second when Kelly hit a three went opposite field for a three-run home run, his first of the season, for a 5-0 advantage.
West Virginia starting southpaw pitcher Maxx Yehl threw five scoreless innings. The redshirt junior recorded four strikeouts on the day and limited the Owls to four hits.
Kelly added a run in the sixth, clearing the centerfield wall for his second home run of the afternoon and a 6-0 WVU lead.
Redshirt sophomore Bryson Thacker took the mound in the six. After a high and wide throw on a ground ball, a walk, and with two outs, junior Cooper Williams drooped an RBI single in right field to put the Owls on the board. Then, a pitch in the dirt rolled to the backstop to add another run, closing the gap to four, 6-2.
Carson Estridge was handed the ball in the seventh. The senior right-hander gave up a leadoff double before registering the next two outs, including a strikeout, before freshman McCollum line an RBI single just out of the reach of the glove of Kelly. Senior Jackson Chirello cut the deficit one, hammering the 3-1 pitch well over the right field wall and into the Waffle House parking lot for a two-run home run.
West Virginia head coach Steve Sabins turned to the clubhouse leader in saves David Perez to get the Mountaineers out of the inning. The freshman returned to the mound in the eighth. Senior Jamarie Brooks reached after hitting a sharp ground ball over to first that went between the legs of senior Ben Lumsden. Then, Williams blasted a two-run home run and a 7-6 Owls lead.
In the ninth, senior Matthew Graveline nearly tied the game with the swing of the bat, driving 0-2 pitch off the top of the left field wall for a one-out double to put the Mountaineers into scoring position. However, redshirt senior Harry Cain sat the last two Mountaineer hitters to collect his second win of the season as the Owls completed the comeback with the 7-6 decision.
West Virginia is back in action on Tuesday for the first of a two-game series against Radford. Game one and game two (Weds) are both scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and the all the action will stream on ESPN+.
Delegate Larry Kump of Berkeley County has died, state officials announced. Kump was 78 years old.
Kump, a Republican, served in the House from 2010 to 2014, again from 2018 to 2020 and finally 2022 to the present. He had announced plans to run again in the coming electoral cycle.
“As a battle-tested and liberty minded Christian and Constitutional Conservative, my consecrated action principles of good governance remains solid and steadfast,” he wrote to supporters in January.
He had been serving in the ongoing legislative session, but had been absent in recent weeks.
The daily prayer in the House of Delegates this past Wednesday included an expression of concern for Kump: “A special prayer for Delegate Larry Kump. Lord, you know where he is in the hospital now, and I pray right now that you would send your angels there to touch him, to be with him.”
Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Kump’s death on social media, calling Kump “a devoted public servant who dedicated many years of his life to improving West Virginia.
“Delegate Kump served with a deep commitment to the principles he believed would strengthen our communities and protect our freedoms.
“On behalf of the First Lady and myself, we extend our condolences to Larry’s family, friends, former colleagues, and all those who had the privilege of knowing and serving alongside him. His legacy of service and his love for our state will never be forgotten.”
Secretary of State Kris Warner also posted condolences to Kump’s family. “Larry was a conservative Christian and a true Mountaineer! He will be sadly missed by his friends and colleagues,” Warner posted.
The West Virginia Democratic Party also put out a statement to offer condolences, saying Kump’s work reflected a lifelong commitment to accountability, public policy, and the effective administration of government.
“Delegate Larry Kump devoted his life to his family, his community, and to his state. He brought experience, independence and thoughtfulness to his role, and he never lost sight of the people he served,” said Mike Pushkin, the Democratic Party chairman who is also a delegate from Kanawha County.
Kump was known for his turns of phrase, for example kicking off his comments on the House floor with “Great googly moogly” for emphasis. He often described his adoration for his “beloved and bodacious wife Cheryl.”
He regularly concluded interactions and written communications this way: “Meanwhile, and for sure and for certain, may God bless you all real good!”
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