September 19, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6425 

and his love of student athletes is something 

he’ll always be remembered for. Though he 

held many titles in his career, the one title 

most common among those that knew Smith 

was that of a friend and teacher. 

Former South Laurel basketball coach 

Steve Wright, who coached under Smith in 

baseball as an assistant and basketball when 

Smith was the AD, said Smith’s experiences 

and heartfelt dedication is what sticks out 

to him more than anything. 

‘‘He’s the most fierce competitor I have 

ever been around,’’ Wright said. ‘‘When you 

were around him, he just taught you the 

value of winning and doing well. 

‘‘The thing I learned from him most was 

that the kids always came first,’’ Wright 

added. ‘‘No matter what he did, he always 

wanted what was best for the students no 

matter what the situation was.’’ 

Wright said one of his fondest memories 

with Smith was after South Laurel won the 

state championship in 2005, when they shared 

a special moment after the game. 

‘‘He wasn’t a real emotional guy, but after 

that game he came over and gave me a big 

hug,’’ Wright said. ‘‘It was a moment as 

coach, it was a moment as an AD and it was 

a moment as a father and I’ll always remember that. 

‘‘We were able to share a dream that we 

both had,’’ he added. ‘‘It really was like a 

mountain top for both of us, and I look back 

on that because it was a moment that I 

think he really enjoyed and could say ‘my 

school just won the state championship.’’’ 

As a basketball player in his younger days, 

Smith became the only player to lead two 

different teams to the Sweet 16 in consecutive years after he first led Hazel Green in 

1970, and Laurel County after consolidation 

in 1971, when he was also named a High 

School All-American and played for the Kentucky All-Stars. 

Smith’s coaching career spanned 26 years, 

with a career total of 662 wins, 15 district titles and six region championships as head 

coach. Smith’s teams never had a losing season during Smith’s tenure and won 30 games 

six times. 

Current Corbin baseball coach Rob 

Ledington, who played for Smith in high 

school and got his first coaching job under 

him, said his relationship with Smith was 

often misconstrued, yet grew in Smith’s 

later days. 

‘‘Our relationship was a lot stronger than a 

lot of people realized,’’ said Ledington. ‘‘I 

got my start in baseball with him as a player 

and I got my first coaching job under him. 

‘‘A lot of the stuff that I do as a coach, as 

a teacher, and as a father, I learned from 

him,’’ he added. ‘‘Outside of my immediate 

family, he was the most influential person in 

my life. We’ve had disagreements, but that’s 

just part of being a family. It’s a sad day for 

baseball and it’s just as sad a day for me personally.’’ 

As a result of Smith’s high-school basketball accolades, he was a member of Adolph 

Rupp’s famed Super Kitten recruiting class. 

While he was at UK, Smith was a part of history twice as he played in the final games of 

John Wooden of UCLA (the 1975 NCAA Championship game) and Rupp. Smith said on several occasions that his favorite UK memory 

was when the Wildcats knocked off topranked Indiana, 92–90, to end the Hoosiers’ 

34-game winning streak in the Mideast Regional final game in Dayton, Ohio. 

Arrangements will be handled by HouseRawlings Funeral Home in London. 

The family will hold a visitation after 6 

p.m. Monday night and the funeral will be 

Tuesday at 11 a.m. 

f 

TRIBUTE TO ERNESTINE CORNETT 

Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I 

stand before you today to pay tribute 

to a woman who has spent a significant 

amount of her life working to inform 

and entertain local communities in 

eastern Kentucky through the television station WYMT. After 20-plus 

years and a plethora of job titles within the company, Ms. Ernestine Cornett 

retired from her position as general 

manager in May of 2012 with as much 

passion and joy in her heart as when 

she first began. 

In the mid-1980s, Ernestine, her husband, and their daughter relocated 

from the city of Lexington to Perry 

County. It was here that the admirable 

works produced by Cornett began. Responding to an ad in the newspaper 

began the journey of this extensive television-business career. I have great respect for Ernestine as she started at 

the bottom, worked hard, and eventually progressed to the top of the hierarchical ladder. 

Ambitiously, she pressed through to 

accomplish great things, not only for 

eastern Kentucky but also for the television company in which she was employed. Working for WYMT television 

station, Ernestine knew that her 

friends and family would be adequately 

updated with weather and news announcements, as well as sports and 

other forms of entertainment. The television station matured and displayed 

ample signs of success while Ernestine 

was aboard with the company. 

Her motivation in life was to make 

sure that eastern Kentucky was knowledgeable and well-informed. Finally, 

after 27 years of working, Ernestine 

Cornett retired in order to enjoy time 

with family and the next phase of her 

life. Ernestine trusts that WYMT will 

continue to prosper and the team members will carry on with her same passion. 

The Hazard Herald recently published 

an article about the accomplishments 

of Ms. Ernestine Cornett, and I would 

ask unanimous consent that said article be printed in the RECORD following 

my remarks. 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the 

RECORD, as follows: 

[From the Hazard Herald, May 30, 2012] 

Ronald Reagan was president, very few 

people had ever heard of high-definition television, and a small CBS affiliate with the 

call letters WYMT was about to revolutionize the way eastern Kentuckians got 

their news each day. 

It was 1985, just two years after Ernestine 

Cornett and husband Keith had returned to 

their native Perry County with their fouryear-old daughter Ashley in tow. Keith had 

just sold his accounting and income tax business in Lexington. 

They were, as Ernestine put it, ‘‘starting 

over in familiar surroundings.’’ 

A graduate of Hazard High School, and 

then Morehead State University, Ernestine 

Cornett had been substituting in the city 

and county school districts when she ran 

across an ad in the Hazard Herald for a position at this new television station. She answered the ad, interviewed with a Lexington 

broadcaster by the name of Ralph Gabbard, 

and got the job in the avails coordinator position, a job which she described as consisting of inputting advertiser information 

and ensuring that the ad would have time on 

the air. 

‘‘Frankly, at the time, I had no idea what 

I was suited for in the television business,’’ 

Cornett said. ‘‘Certainly I had no experience, 

but evidently Mr. Gabbard knew.’’ 

Mr. Gabbard must have known, because in 

a couple of years she took the position of 

sales assistant and then office manager. And 

then, in 1990, when station manager Wayne 

Martin was promoted to the WKYT station 

in Lexington, Cornett also received a promotion and began what would be a career 

heading WYMT that would last more than 20 

years. That career will come to an end with 

Cornett’s retirement later this month, but it 

was Martin whom she credited with her long 

tenure at WYMT, and with her landing the 

job in the first place. 

‘‘Certainly Wayne Martin was a big part of 

my success at WYMT, as he recommended 

me for his replacement, and although I was 

intimidated at the prospect, I knew it was a 

once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,’’ Cornett 

said. 

Martin returned to Hazard on Tuesday of 

this week, as he attended a special lunch to 

honor Cornett’s career and noted that her 

leadership has been a cornerstone at WYMT 

now for 22 years. 

‘‘Her leadership has been one which I know 

I’ve tried to emulate because of her integrity, and sense of fair play, and her absolute 

passion for eastern Kentucky,’’ Martin said. 

WYMT was purchased by Gray Television 

in 1994, an Atlanta-based media company 

that owns several other stations, including 

WKYT in Lexington and WVLT in Knoxville. 

When Gray took over WYMT, Cornett’s title 

changed to vice-president and general manager. 

In the years that Cornett has headed 

WYMT, the station has shown growth and 

success, and has also maintained its relevancy as eastern Kentucky’s only localized 

television broadcast. There are no other television stations that cater solely to the eastern Kentucky market. The station has been 

able to do that, Cornett explained, because 

the station serves the community, both as a 

local advertising source and a news outlet 

that offers hard news updates and features, 

as well as weather, sports, and entertainment options for the residents of eastern 

Kentucky. That was something that had 

never been done on television prior to 

WYMT’s creation. 

And as a native and resident of eastern 

Kentucky, as well as the leader of a media 

outlet, Cornett knows well the importance 

that a news organization can represent, and 

the service it can provide. 

‘‘As a local, I was a manager fully invested 

in the success of this station because I can 

remember what it was like before WYMT 

came along,’’ she said. ‘‘I would not want to 

return to those times. Now, I will be fully invested in the station in new ways, as a viewer, as a consumer.’’ 

But there have been a lot of changes and 

challenges along the way that Cornett 

oversaw during her career. Gone are the analog broadcasts, and WYMT’s newscasts are 

not solely offered on television anymore. 

‘‘Our news can be watched on the World 

Wide Web and on mobile devices,’’ she noted. 

‘‘And, although it took us years to get a satellite truck, there are now small portable devices that can transmit news packages 

through phone and data lines. Technology in 

this business is always moving forward. Our 

challenge is to keep up.’’ 

Cornett will spend her last day at the station in Hazard on Friday, and of course, after 

a long career there are going to be some 

things she will miss, from the people she 

meets every day in the station’s hallways to 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with SENATE
S6426 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 19, 2012 

the excitement of being inside the news machine as it does its work. But at the same 

time, she knows that WYMT won’t miss a 

beat with the management team in place, 

and she’s certainly happy about that. 

‘‘We have a great cohesive crew here and a 

great management team in Neil Middleton, 

Jim Boggs, Louise Sizemore, and Philip 

Hayes,’’ she noted. ‘‘I am leaving the station 

in very capable hands, thus I have am leaving with a wonderful sense of pride and 

peace.’’ 

Cornett said she doesn’t have any specific 

plans after her retirement is final, and after 

attending school or working for the majority 

of her life, she is ready for what she called 

‘‘unstructured days.’’ 

‘‘I have no immediate plans except to 

enjoy my family, get up every day and do 

what pleases me,’’ she said, and from all accounts that is something she has certainly 

earned. 

‘‘She’s a very compassionate person, and 

she realizes the needs, day to day, of the people that work here,’’ noted Phil Hayes, chief 

engineer at WYMT. ‘‘She didn’t micromanage anyone, but she was able to comprehend and anticipate what it took to make 

this station operate as efficiently as it has, 

and she’s just a great person to work with.’’ 

‘‘You couldn’t have a better boss than Ernestine Cornett,’’ added Neil Middleton, 

WYMT’s news director. ‘‘I think the way we 

look at Ernestine is, she was our boss, but 

more importantly she is our friend, and she 

is family.’’ 

f 

REMEMBERING MARTIN DOCK 

SCOTT, JR. 

Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I 

rise today to pay tribute to an honored 

Kentuckian and a man of great accomplishment who proudly served our 

country. Mr. Martin Dock Scott, Jr. of 

Bowling Green, KY, passed away 

Wednesday, September 5, 2012, due to 

cancer. He was 65 years old. 

I have great appreciation for Mr. 

Scott, as he lived such a remarkable 

life. After graduation from Menifee 

County High School, Mr. Scott served 

in the United States Army from 1966 to 

1970. He served with B Company, 1st 

Battalion, 52nd Infantry, 198th Light 

Infantry Brigade. Thus far is evidence 

enough that Mr. Scott lived a worthy 

life, yet he continued onward, and so 

the list of his service and accomplishment also continues. 

While in the military, Mr. Scott 

served in Chu Lai, Vietnam, and operated out of LZ Stinson and other landing zones. Needless to say, Mr. Scott 

put his life on the line for this country. 

In July 1970, Mr. Scott was honorably 

discharged. 

Among his many military decorations, he earned two Bronze Stars. The 

first, with ‘‘V’’ Device, was awarded to 

Mr. Scott in February 1970 for expressing heroism under combined ground 

and mortar attack while his platoon 

was providing security for Dai Loc 

hamlet. The second medal was received 

in April 1970 for ‘‘meritorious achievement in connection with military operations against a hostile force.’’ 

Mr. Scott graduated from Eastern 

Kentucky University, married ViAnn 

Ford in November 1969, and started a 

family. I want to convey my deepest 

condolences to the many family members and friends who knew and were 

loved by Martin Dock Scott, Jr. 

I would ask my U.S. Senate colleagues to join me in commemorating 

his commitment to service and in extending sympathies to the Scott family. The Commonwealth of Kentucky 

will be proud to remember the life and 

deeds of Mr. Martin Dock Scott, Jr. 

Mr. President, an obituary for Mr. 

Scott as provided by the family recently appeared in local newspapers. I 

ask unanimous consent that said obituary be printed in the RECORD. 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the 

RECORD as follows: 

BOWLING GREEN, KY.—Martin Dock Scott, 

Jr., 65, answered his Lord’s call on Wednesday, September 5, 2012, surrounded by family 

at his residence following a brave battle with 

cancer. 

Martin was born January 10, 1947, in Dayton, Ohio. He graduated from Menifee County (KY) High School in 1965 after which he 

served his country in the U.S. Army in Korea 

and in Viet Nam 1966 to 1970, receiving two 

Bronze Stars during action in Viet Nam. He 

served on the Bowling Green Police Department as patrolman and later as detective 

from November 11, 1970 until his retirement 

on April 30, 1989, when he then became a 

Commonwealth’s Detective for the Warren 

County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. 

Martin served 23 years under Commonwealth’s Attorneys Morris Lowe, Steve Wilson, Michael Pearson, and Chris Cohron. 

Martin was an active member of the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police for 39 years, 

serving as President of Bowling Green Lodge 

#13 for 12 years and as President of the Kentucky State Lodge for 18 years. He was a 14- 

year member of American Legion Post #23, a 

life member of KY VFW 5712 and a Master 

Mason of Lodge #73 of the Grand Lodge of 

KY, F. & A.M., and a graduate of Eastern 

Kentucky University. 

He lived a life of service, and most important to Martin was his service to his Lord 

and Savior Jesus Christ through membership, personal testimony and ministry at 

Plum Springs Baptist Church. 

Martin is preceded in death by his parents, 

Martin D. and Alpha Vititoe Scott, and by 

his infant son, William John Scott. He will 

be greatly missed by his wife of 43 years, 

ViAnn, and their family: son Martin ‘‘Dock’’ 

Scott, III and daughter-in-law Stephanie of 

Bowling Green; daughter Alpha ‘‘Amber’’ 

Scott Ford and son-in-law Eric of Smiths 

Grove; and daughter Autumn Annette Scott 

of Bowling Green; grandchildren Erica, 

Brooke, Melanie, Cody, Chase, Cole, Zach, 

Taylor, Lauren, and Reed; great-grandchildren Kaden, Callie, Ean, and Isaac; 

brothers George Scott of Bowling Green and 

sister-in-law MaryAnn and Tim Scott of Middletown, Ohio, and sister-in-law Susie; sister 

Kathy Harris and brother-in-law Arthur; sister Karen Tehrani all of Bowling Green and 

sister Sue Brashear and brother-in-law Stan 

of Trenton, Ohio; sister-in-law Janet 

Bradfield of Leonardville, Kansas, and Nicki 

Ford of Overland Park, Kansas; as well as beloved aunts and uncles as close to him as 

brothers and sister, many nieces and nephews, cousins and dear friends. 

Visitation is Sunday, September 9, from 

2:00 to 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at J.C. 

Kirby & Son Lovers Lane Chapel and on 

Monday, September 10, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 

p.m. at Living Hope Baptist Church. Funeral 

is 1:00 p.m. at the church with burial at Fairview Cemetery #2. 

TRIBUTE TO MONTFORD POINT 

MARINES 

Mr. DURBIN. On June 27, 2012, Congress presented the Congressional Gold 

Medal to the first African Americans 

to serve in the United States Marine 

Corps, the Montford Point Marines. 

More recently, the personal story of 

three of those marines from southern 

Illinois was brought to my attention. 

Most people have heard of the 

Tuskeegee Airmen and the Buffalo Soldiers, but until recently, the Montford 

Point Marines were largely unknown 

to the general public. During the 1940s, 

segregation and discrimination were 

pervasive in this country. Unfortunately, the Marine Corps was no exception. 

To counteract the injustice, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an 

Executive order that prohibited racial 

discrimination in the national defense 

industry, including Federal agencies. 

This order forever changed the Marine 

Corps from an all-white fighting force 

to one comprised of those willing to 

serve. 

Camp Montford Point, NC, is the site 

where the first African Americans who 

joined the Marine Corps were trained. 

Nearly 20,000 African Americans 

trained there, many of whom served 

honorably in World War II. The marines established Camp Montford Point 

adjacent to Camp Lejeune and those 

who trained there were known as the 

Montford Point Marines. 

One man who answered the call to 

serve was Carbondale, IL, resident Archibald Mosley. In 1942, Mosley said 

that he was a ‘‘girl-crazy’’ typical teenager ready to graduate from high 

school in Jackson County, IL. An exceptional student, Mosley was asked by 

the principal, along with a handful of 

other students, to serve in the marines. 

Mosley enlisted with two of his 

friends, Saul Griffin, Jr. and James 

France. Mosley, because his records indicated that he had some college, was 

chosen to lead the others. They were 

sent to train at Camp Montford Point. 

The conditions for the recruits at 

Montford Point were miserable. The 

white men who trained at Camp 

Lejeune lived in barracks. The AfricanAmerican men were housed in huts 

made of beaverboard—similar to thick 

cardboard. The huts had little, if any, 

heat in the winter and no relief from 

the sweltering temperatures in the 

summer. Nor did they have access to 

the same equipment. The African 

Americans didn’t know how bad it 

was—they weren’t allowed into the 

same areas at their White colleagues. 

Amazingly, despite their willingness 

to die for their country, the Montford 

Point Marines still faced incredible injustices after the deplorable conditions 

during training. One situation that has 

continually bothered Mosley was when 

German prisoners of war were allowed 

to eat before the African-American Marines. He couldn’t understand why the 

enemy would be able to eat before one 

of their marine brothers—it appeared 

that loyalty didn’t extend beyond race. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with SENATE