Remembering a mother who never stopped looking for her son to come home
On this Memorial Day, we remember one of the 103 Scott Countians who have given their lives in defense of their country since the beginning of World War I.
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She never stopped waiting for her son to come home
Elsie Simpson Keeton never stopped waiting for her son to come home from North Korea.
“She never gave up,” her son, Ronald Keeton, said in June 2016. “She looked for him until she died.”
It was on Dec. 2, 1950 that Sgt. Bailey Keeton Jr. was killed in action during fierce combat at the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. He was among 20,000 United Nations forces — nicknamed “The Chosin Few” — who were surrounded by some 300,000 Chinese troops just weeks after China entered the Korean conflict. What resulted was one of the fiercest fights of the wa.
It was on the Monday after Thanksgiving in 1950 when the fighting began. The battle raged for 17 days in bitterly cold temperatures; at one point, the temperature dropped to -38°. It was so cold that medics had to thaw vials of morphine in their mouth before administering them; the lubing froze and caused guns to jam, rendering them inoperable. To rip open a wounded soldier’s clothing to tend to a wound was to risk frostbite.
The Chosin Few fought valiantly, inflicting far more casualties than they received and ultimately withdrawing to safety. But losses were heavy. And among those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in that fight was Scott County’s Bailey Keeton.
Keeton was the son of Bailey Keeton Sr. (1904-1976) and Elsie Simpson Keeton (1910-1988). He had four siblings back home in Scott County (two other siblings died in infancy). He enlisted in the U.S. Army out of high school, and was assigned to Co. D, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
As the hundreds of thousands of Chinese forces cut off the U.N. forces on that day in November 1950, Keeton and the rest of the 1st Battalion were with elements of the 31st Infantry Regiment and the 1st Marines. Lt. Col. Don Carlos Faith Jr. rose to military fame during the battle. He was in command of Keeton’s 1st Battalion and personally directed his troops across the ice-covered reservoir — named Chosin because of the Japanese’s pronunciation of Lake Changjin — while placing himself with the forward elements of the battalion. He was killed while attempting to destroy an enemy road block with hand grenades.
It was during this battle that Sgt. Keeton was killed. He was initially listed as Missing in Action. However, the wounded were evacuated by the U.S. Army, and Keeton was not among them. U.S. soldiers who had been captured by the enemy were interviewed after being released from prison, but couldn’t provide any knowledge of Sgt. Keeton’s whereabouts. Three years later, in December 1953, his status was changed to Killed in Action, as he was presumed dead.
The news hit hard back home. Sgt. Keeton’s infant brother had died just as the holiday season was beginning. Christmases would never again be the same.
“Even though my mother would try to have a real good Christmas for all of us kids, I would always catch her off crying,” said Ronald Keeton, who was only four years old at the time. “It changed our family. Even though I didn’t know him like my parents and our older sister did, it changed everything from there on.”
Sgt. Keeton had written letters to his family, telling them how cold it was in North Korea. In one of them, he said it was -40°.
“He said it was so cold that guys couldn’t hold their fork to eat,” Ronald Keeton said. “I can’t imagine him being buried in that type of weather.”
As the outlook became increasingly grim in North Korea, Sgt. Keeton also shipped home his personal items, with instructions that it not be opened until he arrived home. His mother never opened the box.
“She never opened it, the rest of her life,” Ronald Keeton said.
But Elsie Keeton never stopped waiting, watching, and hoping that her son would somehow find his way home. She knew he wasn’t coming home alive; she simply wanted his remains to be returned to Scott County for burial.
“My mother never gave up,” Ronald Keeton said. “She looked for him until she died.”
Elsie Keeton died on March 26, 1988, without living to see the day her son would return home. She was buried at Hazel Valley Memorial Cemetery in Oneida, next to her husband, Bailey Keeton Sr., who had died 12 years earlier. At that time, it had been 38 years since Sgt. Keeton’s death — 35 years since he had been declared KIA.
In the 1990s, the U.S. Army contacted the surviving Keeton siblings to ask them for DNA samples … just in case they could ever use them to potentially identify Sgt. Keeton’s body.
In 2004, a joint search party made up of the U.S. and North Korea excavated a portion of the battle field. Nine bodies were discovered. Thanks to the preemptive work of the Army to collect DNA samples from the Keeton family in the ‘90s, they were eventually able to make a positive identification of one of the bodies. It was Sgt. Keeton.
That identification was made in 2016, and his body was finally returned to Scott County. It was flown into McGhee Tyson Airport and from there escorted by to his hometown. Then-Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam declared a day of mourning and had flags across the state lowered to half mast on the Saturday that Keeton’s remaining family gathered at Hazel Valley to say their final goodbyes. At long last, his body was laid to rest beside his parents in the peaceful cemetery.
“It’s a good feeling,” said Ronald Keeton. “It’s like a dream. I think about it, and a few days go by, and then it will hit me, and it still feels like a dream.”
Tragically, Ronald Keeton died just a few weeks later after being involved in an accident on Helenwood Loop. He, too, was buried at Hazel Valley.
Sgt. Bailey Keeton Jr. was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation, and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
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School board gives final okay to Huntsville play room
HUNTSVILLE | At a special called meeting Thursday afternoon, the Scott County Board of Education approved bids for construction of a playroom at Huntsville Elementary School, as well as asbestos removal and new flooring in a portion of the school.
The board voted unanimously to accept the $2.19 million bid submitted by Knoxville-based Preen Construction, which had previously been approved by the Scott County Finance Committee. The Preen bid was the low bid out of two submitted for the project.
The long-awaited playroom will include a playing floor that is the same size as the gymnasium at Scott High School, along with bleachers that will seat 575 people, an intervention room, restrooms and concession stand.
The board voted unanimously to approve the project, which will now go to Scott County Commission for a final vote of approval.
The final cost on the project will be $2.34 million. Of that, $1.4 million has already been budgeted and approved, using the county’s rural capital fund. Another $800,000 in the same fund has been budgeted for fiscal year 2025-2026, though that budget has not yet been approved. Once it is approved, all but $100,000 of the project will be funded.
The board also approved a bid by Asbestos Management Environmental Solutions to remove asbestos from a portion of the floor at Huntsville Elementary. The firm, which submitted the lone bid on the project, is a long-time partner of the school system.
Finally, the board approved a bid for $51,955 to replace the flooring at HES once the asbestos is removed.
The asbestos removal project at HES is one of several capital projects that the school board approved earlier this month to be funded with the rural capital fund. Other projects earmarked by the board include:
Scott High School: Removal and replacement of fascia boards containing asbestos, a video board at the football stadium, flooring, and a concrete entrance;
Robbins School: Converting the old library and cafeteria into tutoring and intervention spaces.
Huntsville Middle: New flooring and bleachers.
Burchfield: Bleachers, sidewalks at the football field and bus ramp, playground fencing and equipment, and possible converting the mobile classroom area into a covered shelter with picnic areas and a small basketball court for middle school students.
Winfield: Playground equipment.
Fairview: Additional parking and lighting.
All of those projects would be paid for using the rural capital fund, which the school board has asked County Commission to borrow against with an intent for the debt to be paid off within three years. The rural capital fund receives $800,000 each year that is earmarked specifically for capital improvements within the school system. According to discussion from the school board earlier this month, the total cost of the list of projects is estimated to be about $1.5 million, including the remaining cost at the playroom that has not yet been approved.
County Commission will meet in a special called meeting on June 2 to consider the school system’s request for funding for the Huntsville Elementary projects.
County Commission to consider implementing the ‘Jackson Law’
HUNTSVILLE | Scott County Commission will consider opting in to the so-called “Jackson Law” that would give it more control over privately-owned landfills.
Members of the commission will meet in special session on Monday, June 2, to consider a resolution opting into the Jackson Law, a state statute that requires approval from county and municipal governments before privately-owned landfills can be established in those jurisdictions.
Commissioners will also consider a request from the Scott County Board of Education to finalize funding for a new playroom at Huntsville Elementary School.
The Jackson Law discussion is a direct response to plans for a new landfill at Bear Creek, where a Chattanooga-area developer is moving forward with the purchase of up to 700 acres of property adjacent to the existing Volunteer Regional Landfill.
However, it does not appear that opting into the Jackson Law will provide a means for the county to prevent the proposed landfill for moving forward.
The Jackson Law statute was passed by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1989. At that time, Scott County Commission opted in, and attempted to use the new legislation as a means for revoking permission for a landfill at Bear Creek that had been given by the commission in 1986. The landowner, the late Johnny King, sued both Scott County and the Town of Winfield, and in 1992 a chancery court ruled in his favor, saying the 1989 law could not be used to retroactively revoke permission for a landfill that had been given previously.
The land involved in the 1986 decision and the subsequent lawsuit included the current Volunteer Regional Landfill, now owned by Waste Connections, as well as the property being purchased by developer Knox Horner.
County Commission did not renew its Jackson Law opt-in resolution in the 2000s, and it sunset in 2010.
At a County Commission meeting earlier this month, county attorney John Beaty cautioned commissioners that the Jackson Law likely won’t make a difference in the current proceedings.
“(County Commission) can adopt the Jackson Law if it wants, but if you adopt it and you vote to revoke (the new landfill proposal) you’re probably in violation of the court order,” Beaty told commissioners.
However, by opting into the Jackson Law statute, the county could prevent future landfills that don’t involve the original acreage at Bear Creek. Oneida Mayor Lori Phillips-Jones has also said she’s having discussions about the Jackson Law for her town.
County’s unemployment rate drops to its lowest point ever
HUNTSVILLE | Scott County’s unemployment rate has never been lower than it is right now.
According to the TN Dept. of Labor & Workforce Development, Scott County’s unemployment rate dipped half a percentage point to 3.1% in April, down from 3.6% in March.
That is the lowest unemployment rate ever recorded in Scott County, dating back to when the state began maintaining county-level unemployment records in the early 1970s.
Scott County’s jobless rate had previously dipped to 3.6% on several occasions, but never lower. The first month at 3.6% was in April 2019. It later reached 3.6% in April 2024 and again in March 2025.
The latest percentage is based on an estimated local work force of 8,943 persons, of which 8,662 were employed and 281 were unemployed.
The number of working Scott Countians, 8,662, is also at an all-time high, surpassing the number of working Scott Countians — 8,620 — in January 2007, just before the onset of the Great Recession. The number of working Scott Countians increased by 60 from March to April.
The number of unemployed Scott Countians is at its second-lowest point on record. In the first three months of 1979 there were between 230 and 260 unemployed Scott Countians.
In early 2007, before the worldwide economic recession began, there were over 9,100 Scott Countians in the work force and over 8,600 working Scott Countians.
By early 2019, more than a decade later, the number of Scott Countians in the work force had dropped to just over 7,900, of which fewer than 6,600 were working. Despite the unemployment rate being at what was then a record low, the overall jobs picture was stagnant.
Another setback, though much shorter in duration, was seen when the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020. The work force shrank to as low as 7,100 in October 2020, of which only 6,170 were employed.
Since then, however, the work force has bounced back in a big way — and is still trending upward.
Although April is typically the best month of the year for the work force in all Tennessee counties — coming shortly before an influx of new workers into the work force in early summer, which typically couples with seasonal layoffs in the education industry to drive up unemployment rates — the numbers have never been as good in Scott County as they were in April 2025.
Across the state, unemployment rates decreased in 94 counties and increased in just one.
The state’s lowest unemployment rate is now found in Williamson County, at 2.2%, followed by Rutherford County at 2.3%, Wilson, Cheatham, Knox and Robertson counties at 2.4%, and Blount, Macon, Dickson and Sumner counties at 2.5%.
On the other end of the spectrum, Johnson County has the state’s highest unemployment rate, at 5.1%, followed by Unicoi County at 4.9%, Hardeman County at 4.5%, Cocke County at 4.4%, Pickett and Lake counties at 4.3%, Lauderdale and Clay counties at 4.2%, and Perry and Meigs counties at 4.0%.
Scott County currently ranks 45th-lowest among county unemployment rates in Tennessee.
Anderson County’s unemployment rate is 2.7%, while the jobless rate is 2.9% in Campbell County and Fentress County, 3.3% in Morgan County, and 4.4% in Pickett County.
In the state’s major metropolitan areas, the unemployment rate is 2.7% in Nashville, 2.9% in Knoxville, 3.2% in Chattanooga and 4.2% in Memphis.
The statewide unemployment rate is 3.6%, and the national unemployment rate is 4.2%.
The Week Ahead
⛈️ Weather: Another relatively cool, relatively wet week is in store. It may or may not rain enough today to spoil holiday plans; there’s a 30% chance of scattered showers, especially during the morning hours. Rain will become a near certainty tonight and continue into tomorrow, as a low pressure system moves through the region. Rain will remain likely on Wednesday, too, before we begin to dry out some. Check out our daily Eye to the Sky updates on our Facebook page — published each morning at 7 a.m. on the dot.
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📅 Community Calendar
Monday: Ridgeview Behavioral Health Services’ Mobile Health Clinic will be in the Walmart parking lot in Oneida from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., offering integrated primary care and behavioral health. No insurance is not a problem. Call (866)599-0466 for more information.
Monday: The Bandy Creek Pool will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today ($3, or $2 for ages 6-12). Huntsville Pool will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and every day this week ($3). The Oneida Splash Pad is also open.
Monday: VFW Post 5669 in Oneida will host its annual Memorial Day service at 11 a.m. at the post home on Alberta Street in north Oneida. Lunch will be served afterward.
Monday: The Scott County Senior Citizens Center (Main Street, Oneida) will serve lunch from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. The cost is $7 for dine-in or carry-out. Phone: (423) 569-5972.
Tuesday: The Scott County Senior Citizens Center (Main Street, Oneida) will host exercise from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m.
Tuesday: Pinnacle Resource Center’s food pantry (1513 Jeffers Road, Huntsville) will be open beginning at 10 a.m. There are no income guidelines; however, a photo ID and a piece of mail with a Scott County address are required.
Tuesday: The Oneida City Park Farmers & Makers Market will be from 5 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. Call (423) 569-8300 for more information about becoming a vendor.
Tuesday: Boy Scout Troop #333 will meet at the Oneida War Memorial Building on Alberta Street in Oneida beginning at 6 p.m.
Tuesday: Wall Builders will meet from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. at Trinity Baptist Church (1611 Glass House Road, Helenwood) for those struggling with addiction or striving to keep off drugs. There will be preaching, teaching, food, fellowship and personal counseling.
Wednesday: The Scott County Senior Citizens Center (Main Street, Oneida) will serve lunch from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. The cost is $7 for dine-in or carry-out.
Thursday: The Gerry McDonald Mission House, located on Church Avenue, directly behind First United Methodist Church, is open from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. You are eligible to receive food once per month. For more information or requirements, call the church office at 569-8828.
Thursday: The Scott County Senior Citizens Center (Main Street, Oneida) will host exercise from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m.
The Community Calendar is presented by Citizens Gas Utility District. Citizens Gas operates natural gas distribution pipelines in portions of Scott and Morgan counties. Visit citizensgastn.com.
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◼️ Monday morning: The Daybreaker (news & the week ahead)
◼️ Tuesday: Echoes in Time (stories of our history)
◼️ Wednesday: Threads of Life (obituaries)
◼️ Thursday evening: The Weekender (news & the weekend)
◼️ Friday: Friday Features (beyond the news)
◼️ Sunday: Varsity (a weekly sports recap)