Moore County Veterans Memorial, Carthage
This memorial consists of two black granite slabs, each 3,000 pounds, on which the names of almost 150 Moore County veterans killed in the past 100 years are inscribed beginning with World War I to the present. Completing the monument, three flag poles surround the centerpiece, the sculpted figure of an eagle resting atop a smooth stone base. The black granite pedestal of the centerpiece is inscribed with the five branches of the military. The flags flown include the U.S. flag, the North Carolina flag, and the Prisoner of War flag. Twenty-one numbered marble slabs flank the center on the left and right and bear the names of more than 1,000 veterans living and deceased from Moore County. The monument forms a right angle, with the inscribed slabs extending to the left and right of the flag poles and eagle sculpture at the center. A three feet high wall constructed of alternating smooth and rusticated granite blocks forms the rear perimeter of the memorial with the names of major contributors incised on the smooth blocks. A small sloped black granite block sitting directly behind the centerpiece list the names of the Moore County Veterans Memorial Committee. Crepe myrtle trees adorn the central walkway, with the total of six inscribed granite benches on both sides of the walkway. A curved white rail fence extends around the front perimeter. The memorial was designed with room on the slabs to continue adding the names of veterans from current and future wars.
Images:
Plaque by the flagpole |
Right granite slab
|
Left granite slab | View of the memorial | Granite slabs
Flagpole plaque: MOORE COUNTY / VETERANS MEMORIAL COMMITTEE /
RAYMOND DOBY - CHAIRMAN /
RUBY H. HENDRICK - SEC./TRES. /
JOANNE J. ATKINS / ROBERT D. COOKE /
ANNIE PAGE /
E. VERNON GARNER /
GEORGE N. HUNT - VETERANS SERVICES OFFICER /
CYNTHIA P. BREWER - ASST. VETERANS SERVICES OFFICER /
CARLA JOHNSON - VETERANS SERVICES ASST. /
DEDICATED NOVEMBER 11 , 2006
Same inscription on all six benches: DONATED BY / EDWIN B. BLACK – US NAVY / IN HONOR AND MEMORY OF ALL WHO SERVED
November 11, 2006
35.339590 , -79.401180
View in Geobrowse
"Moore Co. Veterans Memorial, Carthage, NC," Waymarking.com, (accessed January 7, 2013) Link
"Veterans Memorial Moore County, NC," Panoramio.com, (accessed January 7, 2013) Link
"Veterans Memorial," County of Moore North Carolina, (accessed January 7, 2013) Link
Gilkeson, Florence. "Veterans Memorial Dedicated," The Pilot (Southern Pines, NC), November 10, 2007, (accessed January 7, 2013)
Gilkeson, Florence. “Honoring Those Who Sacrificed.” The Pilot (Southern Pines, NC), October 13, 2006, (accessed January 7, 2013) Link
Lentz, John. “Compromise Reached in Veterans' Memorial Issue,” The Pilot (Southern Pines, NC), August 8, 2012, (accessed January 15, 2014) Link
Yes
Black granite, grey granite, bronze
Town of Carthage, Moore County Veterans Memorial Committee
$71,543
The Moore County Veterans Memorial was dedicated and unveiled on November 11, 2006. It was estimated that more than 1,000 people gathered at the memorial site at Carriage Oaks Complex in Carthage. Congressman Howard Coble unveiled the monument with Raymond Doby and Robert D. Cooke, who represented the Memorial Committee. The ceremony was extremely moving. Cheryl Gilmore sang the "National Anthem", and “Salute to the Armed Forces” was sung by the Sandhills Teen Challenge Choir. Veterans were asked to stand when their branch was sung. After the monument was unveiled, each name inscribed on the granite slabs was read individually followed by the toll of a bell to honor that veteran's sacrifice to his/her country. Four white doves were also released to symbolize freedom and peace. The ceremony was closed with the playing of “Taps” on a trumpet.
The memorial is the inspiration of Raymond Doby, a veteran, who had a brother killed in action in Italy during World War I. Doby approached the Town of Carthage with the concept, and the town subsequently set aside the land where the memorial now stands. The Moore County Memorial was constructed to honor veterans from Moore County.
Controversy began in 2012 around the possible construction of a fast food restaurant near the monument. The Pilot, Moore County’s local newspaper, quoted veteran Ronnie Comer as he called the memorial “sacred ground” and commented that “I’m not against Bojangles’, I’m against where it’s going to be put. . .I don’t want to be sitting there, thinking about my father, and hear ‘May I take your order?’ It’s like putting a Bojangles’ in the middle of a graveyard.” As of early 2013, the issue remained unresolved.
This Veterans Memorial is located near the intersection of NC Highway 24/27 and NC Highway 15-501 in Carthage. It sits near a shopping center in the Carriage Oaks Complex.
The memorial sits in a grassy area with woods located nearby. A paved walkway connects the memorial with the nearby road.
Veterans' Day observance
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