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The family of a Mammoth Cave native killed while held as a prisoner of war in World War II is inviting the public to help welcome him home as he is laid to rest.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency says Private First Class Thomas “Frank” Brooks died at the age of 23 while being held in the Cabanatuan POW Camp in the Philippines in December of 1942. His remains were unable to be identified after the war, but in June of this year Brooks was identified at a DPAA laboratory.
Brooks will be laid to rest in the Hill Grove Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery in Mammoth Cave on October 1, but Brooks’s great-great nephew Jacob Dunn says anybody wanting to pay respects will have an opportunity Thursday evening.
Brooks’s remains are scheduled to arrive at the Louisville airport at 5:30 p.m.
“Following the ceremony at the airport, we’re going to be driving in a procession from the airport down 31W from Louisville, coming through West Point, Muldraugh, Fort Knox, Radcliff, dipping into Elizabethtown a little bit, all the way down to Joe Prather Highway, then we’re going to take that to I-65 South, and that we’re going to take that the remainder of the way towards the Mammoth Cave, Edmonson County area where he’s from,” Dunn said.
The family is asking anybody in the public willing to participate to line the highways as the procession rolls through.
“Anybody that would love to come out in support, wave flags, please,” Dunn said. “It’s a somber moment, but in a way a celebration that he’s coming home, and he’s been identified, and this story can be put to rest.”
The Patton Funeral Home says a welcome home ceremony will be held Friday at 9:30 a.m. CDT at Edmonson County High School, with military graveside services beginning Sunday at 11 a.m. CDT in the cemetery.
(Photo Credit: Patton Funeral Home)
The Elizabethtown City Council met for their second regular meeting of the month Monday.
The council approved three tax measures for 2023 on their second readings. The franchise tax rate on all eligible bank deposits was set at .025 percent. The tax rate on real and personal property was set at 11 cents per every $100 in assessed value. The tax rate on all motor vehicles and watercraft was set at 11.6 cents per $100 in assessed value.
The council also approved an ordinance amendment that approves the moving of city council and other city meetings from the city council chambers at city hall to the Pritchard Community Center.
“This change will allow for the requirements of KRS Chapter 61 to be met, assuring that all public meetings are held in a place convenient to the public and to include space and acoustic requirements,” said City Attorney Ken Howard, reading from the ordinance.
A change order was also approved for the city’s contract with Phillips Brothers Construction for the stormwater improvement project in the Foxborough subdivision. $6,000 was approved for the application of Flexamat to address additional erosion concerns at the Covington Ridge basin.
Elizabethtown Police Chief Jeremy Thompson provided additional information on the work that went into recovering a stolen vehicle that had a seven-month old child inside Sunday. Thompson addressed questions as to why an Amber Alert was not issued for the case, noting that Amber Alerts can only be issued by the Kentucky State Police.
“A local law enforcement agency has to determine a legitimate need exists,” Thompson said. “You have to have information that a child under the age of 17, it doesn’t apply if it’s over the age of 17. It doesn’t apply if you don’t have some type of vehicle information because if you are putting out an Amber Alert then you have to have something you are looking for, so we have to determine all of those factors early on.”
Thompson said an Amber Alert would have been requested had officers not located the vehicle as quickly as they did, which he credited in part to the use of social media to quickly reach the public and flock cameras, which use license plate information to identify and locate vehicles.
The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet for a work session on September 25.
The Joseph Holt Home in Hardinsburg will host their 15th annual Community Day this Saturday from 9 a.m.to 2 p.m.
Community Day is free and open to the public, and is an opportunity for area residents to take a look into Breckinridge County’s history and to check out the hard work that has gone into preserving this historic home.
“There’s no admission because we want people to be a part of it, and we have had people be a part of this for 15 years to let people come in and see the improvements each year,” said Friends of Holt home President Susan Dyer. “It is massive what we have done as a local community. With 27 grants, we’ve raised $2 million.”
The Holt Home belonged to lawyer, soldier, and politician Joseph Holt, and Dyer says preserving the home means preserving the legacy of an individual whose contributions to keeping the Union together during the Civil War are often overlooked in history books.
“He was Lincoln’s judge advocate general,” Dyer said. “He served four presidents. He had the rank of major general, and being ‘TJ’ that means that he was the top judge advocate. He was Lincoln’s choice for that because he was famous across the nation during the Civil War, and for what he did for our nation. He held it together, being the prosecuting judge.”
Community Day at the Holt Home will feature guided tours, interactive reenactments, a Civil War-era baseball game, a presidential wreath-laying ceremony, music, guest speakers, and more.
Dyer says the home is a testament to the importance of historic preservation.
“If a local community like rural Breckinridge County can save a national treasure, and bring it back as the ‘showplace of Breckinridge County,’ it gives encouragement to communities all across the commonwealth,” Dyer said.
For more information on Community Day, visit the Friends of the Holt Home Facebook Page or www.josephholthome.com.