Kingsport Times-News (Newspaper) - March 21, 1971, Kingsport, Tennessee Tank Troopers Come Out On The Skids SAIGON Vietnamese troops abandoned major tank base in Laos Saturday and fled bloody battlefields in U.S ne copters flying through intense Communist fire American helicopter pilots described some of the more than South Vietnamese flown out of Laos Saturday as panic stricken as they mobbed overcrowded South Vietnamese happy to be out rescue aircraft At least three soldiers who grabbed landing skids lost their grip and were reported killed when they plummeted hundreds of feet into steaming jungles One pilot complained that the South Vietnamese were not protecting the U.S helicopters as they landed and that American commanders were unnecessarily risking lives Another American helicopter crewman door gunner whose aircraft was shot down was reported stranded in the jungle and directing air and artillery strikes against Communist troops closing in on him There was increasing evidence that the South Vietnamese offensive against North Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh Trail in was ended as advancing North Vietnamese were m the full stride of a to protect the military supply line The size of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam ARVN task force was reduced to less than men from a peak of Vietnamese troops military sources said U.S and South Vietnamese commanders said the purpose of the campaign now in its More on Page It-A Col 1 VOLUME XLI No 10 PHONE KINGSPORT TENNESSEE 37660 SUNDAY MARCH 21 1971 7 SECTIONS PAGES 25 CENTS Young golf champ plays his toughest court Bobby What Might Have Been Irish Troubles Topple Premier Staff Writer They brought Bobby Lane into the troom on a stretcher and the attorneys asked him a few questions which he tried gamely to answer But the words came out so garbled nobody could understand and the only thing Bobby could make clear was no when they asked him if he remembered how the accident happened Then they wheeled him back into the hall where his mother tended him throughout the trial feeding him and wiping his face with a towel Warriors Park golf pro Dick Webster a witness in the case stopped beside the stretcher and shook Bobby's hand and said Bobby when are we going out to hit a And Bobby smiled and uttered something his mother translated as Saturday later on the stand Webster said that in his AFTER Bobby greets old friend Dick Webster pro golfer at Warrior's Park outside courtroom Bobby played his last game with Webster And won Photos Joan Roesgen BEFORE Bobby demonstrates backswing in this photo taken at Bristol Country Club shortly before the 1969 accident that left him paralyzed opinion Bobby once had the makings of a real champion Webster was the last person Bobby played golf with Bobby shot in the low 70s and won He was Webster testified He was dedicated and ambitious and above all he had the skill His was flawless that's all you could say about it Bobby was 15 when the accident ended all that on Oct 4 1969 He was riding his motor scooter on Bloomingdale Road Miss Charlotte Kirkland now of Knoxville but then employed at American Saint Gobain was the driver of the car involved a broadside collision which occurred when she made a left turn into a service station across Bobby's path Like Bobby she testified that she didn't know how it happened Miss Kirkland was not injured but Bobby's body is paralyzed as a result of the crash and his brain permanently damaged More on Page Col 1 BELFAST Northern Ireland Prime Minister James of Northern Ireland resigned Saturday under pressure from conservative protestant members of his Unionist party who seek a harder line toward Roman Catholic extremists and the outlawed Irish Republican Army His resignation touched off whoops of joy in protestant areas of this capital which is divided along sectarian lines but Catholics adopted a cautious attitude Moments after the announcement was broadcast two gasoline bombs were thrown from an alley into a bar in downtown Belfast Only one of them exploded causing minor damage police said There were no injuries as the bar had just closed and the last of the patrons were filing out the front door at the time of the explosion waited until the bars had closed to make his announcement an apparent effort to prevent new clashes between Catholics and protestants that have plagued Northern Ireland and forced Britain to send almost troops here in an effort to maintain order The IRA recently entered the rivalry Premier too soft for the fighting Irish between majority protestants and minority Catholics m this British province seeking to use it as a means to further its goal to separate Northern Ireland from Britain and to link it with the Irish Republic to the south The IRA is outlawed in both Irelands sought during his 22 months in office to institute voting and housing reforms for Northern Ireland's Catholic minority and to curb violence between extremists of both sides that has caused numerous deaths in the past two years He resigned despite an appeal to stay on from British Prime Minister Edward Heath by telephone Friday and backed up by visits Saturday by the British defense secretary Lord and the chief of the imperial general staff Sir Geoffrey Baker Will Be No Fun For Legislators Legal Tangle Follows Big Judgment The Bobby Lane accident injury lawsuit in which a Kingsport Law Court jury Friday gave Bobby and his father has developed into a legal action unprecedented in East Tennessee For one thing the judgment is one of the largest awarded in this area attorneys had asked for and the question now is who's going to pay Will it girl Charlotte Kirkland who at the time of the crash was a legal minor driving the car father Jack Kirkland a Knoxville businessman who was legally responsible for her at that Insurance Company with whom Kirkland has his automobile Inc owner of the car the girl was Selective Insurance Company with whom had the automobile This legal tangle will be unraveled in another lawsuit filed in Kingsport Chancery Court by the Kirklands and Safeco to determine who is liable in the case Here's what happened On Sept 29 1969 Miss Kirkland who was then employed at American Saint Gobain went to to buy the car It turned out however that because her 21st birthday was not until Oct 9 she couldn't get a loan from the bank until that date So according to the lawsuit a friend others who was over 21 signed a note for her and A case for no-fault auto editorial then let her use the car kept the title with the agreement that on her birthday she'd come back and buy it The Bobby accident happened in that interim five days before Miss Kirkland's birthday There were other unusual circumstances in the case the most significant of which was that the jury never did learn could not possibly learn first hand the impact details since there were no eyewitnesses The closest thing was the testimony of ager Richard Sweeney who he had seen Bobby on his a few seconds before the crash riding the speed limit in the proper lane of In his charge to the jury Judge Roger Thayer pointed out that negligence means failure to exercise ordinary care and caution It may never be presumed but always established by preponderance of evidence and that such negligence must be the direct and proximate cause of the accident About a dozen witnesses testified on Bobby Lane's behalf but Charlotte Kirkland was the lone witness in her own defense She was asked only seven questions four by her own lawyer and three in cross-examination to establish that she had made a left turn in front of Bobby across a line of traffic that she hadn't seen him and that she didn't remember how the accident happened Bobby said he didn't remember how it happened either More on Page Col 1 By ELLIS BINKLEY Political Editor NASHVILLE Area legislators will be returning here Monday to begin a recess devoted to detailed examination of Gov Winfield Dunn's budget and tax increase proposals Although the word recess indicates fun what the lawmakers are facing is anything but fun They will sit for hours and hours hearing the dullest of testimony Some are predicting that the leaders will call them back into regular session long before the recess is over In fact they could be called into extraordinary session by the governor Under the Constitution the governor can call the legislature into extraordinary session at any time it is not meeting For the two weeks the legislature will be in recess just like it is between yearly sessions All Dunn has to do is issue the call and state for what purpose he is calling the extra session In this instance he can state it would be to study the budget and transact any other business that might come before you This in effect would mean a dress session He could set the expiration date as the day after the recess ends and the session could resume without a hitch Not only would the legislators carry on with their regular business of making laws but those who want extra pay of day would also be satisfied It is estimated the so-called recess and that is the only word that can be used for the interruption of the session will cost the taxpayers ft day in- pay for the lawmakers mileage and staff workers salaries The idea of the governor calling the legislature into extraordinary session has been discussed in his office but no decision had been made at the close of the week During the next two weeks no bills will be introduced or acted upon in the legislature however some new Open Meeting March 27 Sullivan County legislators will hold a public legislative meeting at Kingsport City Hall Saturday morning March 27 according to an announcement by ben Hayden B Baker The meeting is scheduled for D to 12 noon A similar meeting is set for the Blountville thouse on Saturday morning April 3 HELD FOR J SMUGGLING DOPE A Kingsport soldier is being held Hawaii for allegedly helping smuggle about worth of heroin into that from Vietnam Jamas a Cody Jr 20 of Yemen f and Pfc A Pate n of Birmingham Ala wera arrested when they on a flight from Both l magistrate John special agent in charge two j of berain were School out to ofa the 1 three years ago according ta a Cable Answers Complaints New Location For Antenna Cypress Cable TV of Kingsport this week announced plans for relocating its master antenna in a new site with adequate signal strength and answered a series of complaints which have cropped up at recent City Council meetings concerning the service Joseph M manager of the local television cable firm said Cypress has hired Herrold Electronics Corp to conduct a site Cypress cable trouble this breakdown on Actual TV cable system failure Customer's TV set failure Improper tuning by customer 35 Nuisance calk and went to on a and recreation leave He wn scheduled to Vietnam far another two T before boma flaw ta combat I a y survey to determine the best spot for locating the master antenna The survey has been completed and the company will soon be making plans for the acquisition of a suitable piece of said The manager said the cable company is deeply concerned over recent complaints about the cable TV system adding that the company is making definite in upgrading service Among the improvements he listed a new complex system to conform with FCC regulations Also he said the company is now installing new designed to eliminate degrading of signal by illegal hookups said that since January I the company a service man on duty at the office during evening program hours until midnight to handle complaints The company had previously used a recording device to receive complaints He said the firm has also begun extensive biweekly testing sessions and has employed several new highly qualified technical personnel in service capacities Local programming from the cable's Kingsport studio is being increased said He said complaints in the past year have decreased from approximately 400 per day to about 20 or 30 a day said the cable company is especially concerned about recent com- plaints from subscribers whose viewing of a basketball tournament was interrupted He More on Page W-A DICK STOUT MACK GIBSON Two More Join Alderman Race Two more Kingsport residents have announced their cf Mayor and Aldermen tothe They are businessmen J A Dick Stout and Mack Gibson both of whom have been candidates in previous city elections In when two aldermen were elected Gibson ran fourth in i g l when three were elected Stout ran fourth in a field of twelve candidates This time they join two other announced in- More on Page 1 tax proposals might come from the hearings The Democrats who are responsible for the recess have indicated they might come up with a tax program of their own which might include some areas Dunn rejected in his proposal A to change the charter of Bristol to that of a city manager form of government will not be introduced until after the Sullivan County legislators meet with their constituents in the twin city That meeting was scheduled for yesterday Fall Branch Man Slain KALI Fall Branch man was being sought late Saturday night for the fatal stabbing of another man following a collision between their vehicles near here The victim Buddy Sammy Brandon 32 Rt 2 Fall Branch was dead on arrival at Valley Community Hospital Washington County Sheriff James Seehorn said the identity was known and an arrest was expected The stabbing occurred on Road just across the Washington County line cording to Sullivan County Sheriff's In- J C Fletcher Witnesses being questioned in the Sheriff's Office at the Kingsport Safety Building late Saturday night told Seehorn the stabbing happened after the truck the rear of a moving car After the collision the killer got out of his truck and approached the car The victim and two other men driver Johnny Johnson of Route 2 Fall Branch and passenger Billy Light of Route 1 Fall Branch also got out Johnson asked the trucker How come you ran into and the trucker suddenly whipped out his knife awl whacked Brandon Seehorn said WEATHER Sunny nnd a little warmer today Fair and not so cold tonight Monday increasing cloudiness and warmer with g ctumce of Showers by late t
