Today we digitized a cassette from 1990 by the Emert Brothers, titled after their first names. There is one other album by the duo you will hear and see in the future. The Emert Brothers were frequent performers at the Museum Of Appalachia for 16 years in their day and were based in Maryville, TN. Otha and Stanley were two of 11 children that grew up on their parent’s farm. They developed a passion for the guitar at a young age which was fueled at social gatherings and churches.
Otha was severely wounded when a sniper’s bullet shattered his shoulder in war. After a year of rehabilitation at Daytona Beach, Florida, he received a medical discharge with a rank of First Lieutenant. Otha tried his hand at farming but soon discovered he couldn’t find contentment as a farmer. Otha re-enlisted in May, 1950. He was accepted back into military service as a Sergeant with three stripes.
Otha became a prisoner of war during the Korean conflict and had an estimated crowd of 3,000 celebrate his return to the states in what was coined locally as “Otha Emert Day”. That day was November 7th, 1953. Returning home after 3 grueling years of incarceration in a Chinese Prison Camp, Otha stepped back on U.S. soil as a Master Sergeant. Both brothers were first stationed in the army at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
Shortly before leaving for duty in Korea, the Sergeant was presented the bronze star for meritorious achievements in grand operation against the enemy in the North African Theatre of Operations of World War ll. On November 30, 1950 the 2nd Division lost 3,000 troops. Among those listed as missing in action was M/Sgt. Otha Emert, a machine gun platoon leader in the 38th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Division.
For two months, his wife and 8-year-old son in Tacoma, Wash. and his family in Sevier County wondered if Otha was dead or alive. On February 1, 1951, an enlarged picture from AP wire image was published in the Tacoma News-Tribune.
Annie Mae identified Otha as one of the soldiers in the picture who was being held captive in a Chinese Prison Camp somewhere in North Korea. On July 28th Annie Mae received two letters from her husband confirming he was a prisoner of the Chinese.
Stanley, the younger of the two, was a World War II combat soldier and afterwards re-enlisted in the Air Force. He retired at the rank of Major in 1960 and was born in 1922. Both brothers served for the military and sold their tapes to people across the world. When Otha passed away in 1996 Stanley formed the Bird’s Creek Boys with his nephew George Emert, which went onto sell-out crowds in the Western United States. This information wouldn’t have been possible without smokykin.com as an amazing historical resource and information hub.
After moving to Calhoun, Georgia in 2008 to be closer to family, Stanley formed one final group: The Pine Chapel String Band. This was made possible with assistance from local musician Howard Withrow and grandson Heath Brooks. Major Emert’s last public performance was opening the Delmore Days Festival in Athens, Alabama. This cassette was manufactured by our friends at Crystal INC. and can be played natively below or streamed on YouTube as well. View their collection on our site.