Jack Austin (left) and Jim Morgan listen as the national anthem is played at the Memorial Day service at Veteran’s Memorial. DON DAVIS JR. | HPE
A crowd that included local veterans and their families congregated at the Veterans Memorial at Main Street and High Avenue to hear patriotic words and music under blue skies.
Nicholas Ruden, who has organized the service for several years after developing the concept and design for the memorial as a high school student, told those gathered how major wars over the past 100 years claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
“And currently, there are more than 5,400 who have lost their lives in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said. “We gather together to remember those who served and who have laid down their lives.”
The guest speaker was City Councilman John Faircloth, a former High Point police chief who served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves.
“It’s wonderful to see all these veterans out here,” Faircloth said. “It’s an honor for me to be here among heroes and families of heroes.”
He related the story of Greensboro brothers George and Bill Preddy, who were pilots in World War II who died in combat.
“How do we as a nation thank you who so gallantly served our nation in foreign lands?” he said. “We must teach our young so that your legacy endures beyond our sound-bite culture. The story deserves telling and re-telling.”
He also highlighted the story of Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle’s air raid on Japan during World War II in retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor. Doolittle led 16 B-25 bombers launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet deep in Japanese-occupied terrority on a bombing raid on military targets in Japan. The pilots planned to land in China. All of the aircraft involved in the bombing were lost, and 11 crewmen were either killed or captured.
“Jimmy Doolittle was a maverick, a daredevil, a risk-taker,” he said. “Few people knew that the risks he took were well-calculated and had a good chance of success.”
Other highlights of the observance included a gun salute in memory of fallen military personnel by the Randolph County Honor Guard.
pkimbrough@hpe.com | 888-3531
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