Rain and the coronavirus pandemic made Wednesday’s Orange County Veterans Day ceremony different than normal, but community members still gathered to honor locals who have served in the armed forces.
Organizers ultimately held the ceremony indoors at the Southern Human Services Center off Homestead Road, just a short distance from the Orange County Veterans Memorial. Veterans, family members and friends took time to recognize the holiday through a display of the flags, recognition of all the armed services and the recounting of tales of veterans in combat.
Lieutenant Colonel Dan Hurd shared many stories of people he has met while in the service. The main speaker for the event, Hurd indicated he believes the holiday may have even more importance amid the ongoing pandemic.
“I think it’s really important we celebrate it every year because it brings us together as humans, together as people,” he told Chapelboro. “War is a human endeavor and the importance of sharing stories of what people go through is what makes us able to relate to each other. I certainly do think that in today’s world and climate, understanding people is of the utmost importance. And this day is a day about that.”
As a professor of military science at UNC and the department head of the university’s ROTC program, Hurd said he often shares stories of individuals as a way to both educate and honor. He used the example of local American Legion member Major Bud Hampton, who is nearly 100 years old and has countless stories from his combat tours during World War II and the Korean War. Hurd described speaking with Hampton on Wednesday as an example of how learning such stories reminds us of what he calls “the human nature of warfare.”
“It means a lot to be able to meet men like Bud Hampton,” described Hurd. “I [went] up to talk with him and I didn’t know what to expect. It means a lot to see this in the community and I think it’s a lot of the values that veterans learn and exhibit in the service that help make our community strong.”
Edward Gill, a Vietnam veteran, plays the taps to conclude the 2020 Orange County Veterans Day ceremony in Chapel Hill. (Dakota Moyer/Chapelboro.com)
Wednesday’s ceremony also provided a chance to share updates on further construction and updates to the Orange County Veterans Memorial project. Phase 1 of the memorial was completed in late 2017, which included the installation of a temporary flagpole and walking trails on the grated plot off Homestead Road. Fundraising efforts for the next step have been ongoing for many years and on Wednesday, co-chair of the Veterans Memorial Committee Bruce Runberg shared some recent success. He revealed Phase 2 of construction is set to begin on the memorial later this month, thanks to approval of funding from the Orange County government and donations from the Veterans of Foreign Wars Organization, the Davie Poplar chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and Bold Construction.
Runberg said Phase 2 will help bring about “significant” changes to the current memorial site. A permanent flagpole display will be installed, as well as intricate brick and rock work around it. Additional work will be done to embellish walking paths near the flagpole site to the Field of Remembrance area and to install electrical work to illuminate the memorial.
On Wednesday, Runberg said construction on these updates to the Orange County Veterans Memorial will begin on November 23 and take around two-and-a-half months for the construction company to complete.
The full Veterans Day ceremony can be found on the Orange County Veterans Memorial Facebook page.
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November 12, 2020 at 05:13PM
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Orange County Community Members Gather for Veteran's Day; Memorial Project Progresses - Chapelboro.com
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