Visit anywhere in eastern Kentucky and you will find stories and myths that have been around for decades. Stories of mountain people facing and overcoming numerous adversities, tragedy, and even some folklore that seems a little farfetched. If you search far enough, sometimes there are stories that are hidden or forgotten that captures the mind and imagination.
One day earlier this month, Sue Thomas, Park Program Services Supervisor for Buckhorn Lake SRP, called me asking about information on a story I had never heard of. "Trinity, have you ever heard of the crash of a Tuskegee Airman in Van Lear, Kentucky?" Sue claimed. This piqued my interest tremendously, being that this happened only a short drive from Jenny Wiley State Resort Park and war history has always caught my attention. Sue, her sister Tammy, and I began researching this story about eastern Kentucky that ties into February's Black History Month. Below is a link to what we found, bringing to light the wonderful story of Harry T. Stewart Jr., a national hero who was welcomed by an eastern Kentucky community.
