BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FORT THOMAS -- Move over, Rough Riders.
This summer, a supporter of the 6th Infantry of Fort Thomas hopes to show how that regiment -- not Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders -- took San Juan Hill in the pivotal Spanish-American War battle.
"The Rough Riders got credit for taking (San Juan Hill), but they actually took Kettle Hill, the hill next to it," said Covington resident Bernie O'Bryan, a historian by avocation. "Roosevelt got the recognition because he had a very good publicity machine. He had a photographer follow him up the hill."
At Mr. O'Bryan's suggestion, the city of Fort Thomas is planning a Family Heritage Weekend on June 27-28 to mark the centennial of the Spanish-American War and recognize Fort Thomas' special contribution to the conflict.
The celebration will take place on the grounds of the 111-acre Fort Thomas Military Reservation, where the 6th Infantry was based. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the post was established about 10 years before the start of the Spanish-American War, and it saw its last inductee pass through in 1964, before the Vietnam War was in full force.
Family Heritage Weekend will include the dedication of a memorial and a brick walkway leading to the former Mess Hall in Tower Park, as well as the publication of a cookbook featuring Fort Thomas family recipes and histories, and the grand opening of a museum honoring the city's war veterans.
Triggered by the unexplained explosion of the USS Maine in Havana harbor in 1898, the Spanish-American War elevated the United States to world power status, Mr. O'Bryan said.
"It established us as a world power because we beat a European power and took away their colonies," said Mr. O'Bryan, a data processor who spends much of his free time researching Northern Kentucky's military history and taking part in re-enactments of Civil War battles and dances.
Although not a resident of Fort Thomas, Mr. O'Bryan often drove past Tower Park to take his daughter to basketball practice, he said.
He found himself intrigued by the 102-foot stone water tower at the park's entrance, which bore a large plaque listing the names of those killed in the Spanish-American War and was flanked by two bronze cannon cast in Barcelona and brought back as trophies from the conflict.
Drawn to the historical significance of the site, Mr. O'Bryan began researching the history of the post, which led him to believe that the 6th Infantry had played a more significant role in the Spanish-American War than commonly thought.
Through battle re-enactments, including the charge up San Juan Hill, carriage rides, displays of turn-of-the-century photos and war relics, and a walking tour led by costumed characters reminiscent of the 1890s, organizers of the Family Heritage Weekend hope "to bring the past to life," said Marge Fuldner, president of the Fort Thomas Heritage League.
The weekend also will feature two encampments of fully uniformed soldiers, a concert by a modern military band, a parade through the park, and recognition of descendants of the city's Spanish-American War veterans.
"A lot of people don't realize that there's all this history connected with Fort Thomas," Mrs. Fuldner said. "If we don't save some of these things in places like our museum, they'll be lost forever."
