Local Veterans Honored and Remembered

 

 

Staff report

 

Two Edmonson County Veterans were recently honored with the dedication of two roads in Edmonson County. Wand Doyle and LTC. Ernest Edward Lane Jr.

Family members, guest and friends came out to Kyrock Elementary for the dedication of Kyrock Road and Old Kyrock Road.

Wand B Doyle was born August 20, 1918, the 4th of nine children born to Hardin Doyle and Bessie Gross Doyle. Doyle and his family lived on the Kyrock Road in the community of Kyrock, Kentucky. He attended and graduated from Kyrock High School. Wand enlisted in the Navy on January 10, 1940 in Louisville, Kentucky.

He was assigned to the USS Arizona (BB-39). His rank was Coxswain (No. 2873598), and was killed in action while serving in the armed forces aboard USS Arizona on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He was initially designated “Missing in Action” which was officially updated to “Killed in Action” as of December 7, with his remains permanently entombed in the sunken hull of Battleship Row. Wand’s name is permanently inscribed on the USS Arizona Memorial in Honolulu.

Coxswain Doyle was awarded the Purple Heart for his sacrifice. His legacy was honored by naming the local Disabled American Veterans Chapter 32 in Brownsville in his name. This Chapter proudly carries the name of this Edmonson County hero.

LTC. ERNEST EDWARD LANE JR., 39th Engineer Combat Battalion, was born 11 July 1924 to Ernest Edward Lane, Sr. and Clorene MusicLane in the side room of the family owned Lane’s Grocery Store at Kyrock, Edmonson County, Kentucky. He attended Kyrock School from first grade through twelfth grade with high scholastic honors and athletic abilities in basketball and baseball. He was saved and joined Kyrock Church.

After one year at the University of Kentucky, he was given appointment to West Point where he would major in Civil Engineering. He graduated from West Point 5 June 1945 at Highland Falls and given commission in the Army Corps of Engineers. The evening of his graduation, he married his childhood sweet heart, Eloise Basham. They had three children: Theodora, Ernest III, and Timothy.

Later, he went to Harvard and earned a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering. He received his first troop duty with the 5th Engineers in Korea commanding his first platoon and then company. Returning to the USA he was one of the few selected for Special Weapons Project in New Mexico and two years at the Engineer Center Fort Belvoir to serve as staff and faculty. Ed graduated from the Command and General Staff College and spent two years as Executive officer in Galveston, Texas. After more training and time he sat at the Pentagon in Washington DC and later moved his family to Athens Greece where he served as Assistant Military Attaché.

In 1964, he assumed command of the 39th Engineer Combat Battalion at Ft. Campbell. After vigorous training, he took the battalion to Cam Ranh Bay Vietnam. In May 1966, Ed boarded a helicopter to make low level reconnaissance for a new port. The report of the 129th Assault Helicopter Co. read as follows: “One of the Nha Trang slicks was hit by a sniper on the 15th of May during a road recon through Vung Ro Bay. A passenger, Lt. Col. Ernest Lane, was fatally wounded in the stomach. The 39th built an ammunition facility and was named “Port Lane”, in remembrance of LTC Lane.

After his death, the 39th was moved to Ft. Belvore & the company museum was named in his honor as Lane Hall. Budget restraints forced closure of the museum and his artifacts were moved to Kyrock School Library where they remain today. The library was named Lane Hall in his honor. LTC Lane is buried in Sweeden Church Cemetery at Sweeden, Kentucky.