John Armstrong didn’t need any help hitting the beaches of Saipan and Iwo Jima.

But when it came to an 8-inch concrete curb at Fayetteville’s North Carolina Veterans Park, the 97-year-old veteran might as well have been facing Mount Suribachi on Monday.

Armstrong, who faced waves of suicide charges in the muggy nights of Pacific warfare nearly more than 65 years ago, now found himself trapped on this sunbaked morning. His motorized wheelchair was unable to negotiate the curb, and he was separated from the access ramp by hundreds of spectators streaming toward the park’s Service Plaza.

That’s when a stocky West Virginian named Alan James saved the day. In a deft move of strength and balance, the Fort Bragg soldier lifted Armstrong’s wheelchair over the curb, lowering him gently on to the street.

Then with a nod and a wave, James was on his way – just one soldier lending a hand to another.

That bond of service and soldiers was at the heart of the grand opening of the park, as dozens of soldiers from every American conflict since World War II were on hand to share stories, memories and a bit of themselves.

Many of them were there to see castings of their hands. Four veterans from each North Carolina county were chosen, with a fifth honored by a bronze casting of their hand on a special wall of honor.

“It’s humbling to be here,” said Arvil Webster, an 89-year-old Airborne World War II veteran from Robbinsville. His tour included jumps over Sicily, Italy and the Market Garden campaign in Holland.

“I’m honored to be here, and lucky to be here, I guess,” Webster added. I wasn’t sure what this would look like. It’s very nice.”

The hands rest on 50 pillars, each representing two of the state’s counties. There were no names, no indications whose hand was where, meaning veterans, their friends and families wandered through the plaza to find the hand they sought.

“Once we got in here, I didn’t have any trouble figuring out which hand was mine,” Armstrong said. He reached out, lightly patting the stone hand like a long-lost friend.

Nearby, Webster was comparing his hand to its stone likeness.

“I think I’ve got one of the biggest hands here,” he said overlaying his hand over the others on his Graham County group. His fingers easily stretched over the other hands.

“But you know, they didn’t include my ring,” he added, proudly showing off his commemorative 82nd Airborne ring. “I don’t know why. It would have looked nice.”

Reuniting with friends

As about 3,000 people mingled under a baking late-morning July sun, some veterans spotted friends long lost over the years. Charlie Williams, who served in Korea and Vietnam, kept stopping to hug his fellow veterans.

“This park is great,” he said. “For a guy like me, who’s 81 years old, it means a lot to see the appreciation that our soldiers are getting now.”

That sense of appreciation was shared by several veterans as they looked over the park. For many of them, Monday was the first time they had been back to Fayetteville since their Army days. The changes were evident.

“I had been told this was going to be a special place, but this is wonderful,” said Ken Sellers, a 66-year-old Vietnam veteran from Burlington. His hand was one of the 500 in the park.

“It’s a reflection of this community and this state’s appreciation for the military. Fayetteville is by far the best place for this memorial,” Sellers said. “And I think many people will want to come back. I know I’ll come back with my wife and children.

“But,” he added, squinting into the July sun. “I may wait for a day that’s a little cooler.”

Vietnam veteran Bob Joyner circled July Fourth and talked about a trip to Fayetteville when his right hand was cast for the North Carolina Veterans Park.

After the park opened Monday with fanfare, several speeches and a jet flyover, his family pushed Joyner in his wheelchair to see the wall adorned with his and 99 other bronze hands – one from each North Carolina county.

The 79-year-old from Nash County had a tube connected to his nose to help him breathe and a “VIP Access” card stuck in his breast pocket.

“I’m real impressed,” he said.

His son-in-law, Glenn Arnette, said family members knew last fall where they would spend the holiday when Joyner – a 28-year Army veteran – told him about the hand casting.

About 3,000 people, according to a city estimate, spent their morning in downtown Fayetteville to finally experience what state and local officials first touted in the 1990s: a park that stands in honor of the sacrifices and heroism of those who have served their country.

Families snapped pictures of veterans standing next to the bronze hands, and children leaned over low walls and poked their hands into the pools of water.

People streamed in and out of the visitors center, where colorful story boards were set up highlighting the state’s military heritage from colonial times to the present. About 800 servings of chocolate and vanilla ice cream were scooped, and five cakes representing the five branches of service were carved.

“On behalf of a grateful city and state,” Mayor Tony Chavonne said, “we make this commitment to you, North Carolina veterans: No matter when or where you served, no matter where your service may take you in the future, you will always have a place in this great city that you can call home.”

Gov. Bev Perdue said she was overcome with emotion when she recently saw the World War II Memorial in Washington. And when she arrived at Veterans Park and saw the fluttering flags representing each branch of service and the many veterans, “my breath was taken away again.”

Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick, deputy commander for operations of U.S. Forces in Iraq as well as commander of Fort Bragg and the 18th Airborne Corps, recorded an audio message for the park’s opening.

“It will be a reminder that when freedom is attacked, freedom will be defended, and it’s the veterans that have sacrificed throughout history to keep our nation great,” Helmick said.

Race to finish

The 5-acre park, near the corner of Bragg Boulevard and Hay Street, cost about $13 million to develop.

Workers spent a frantic weekend finishing the construction and cleaning the grounds ahead of Monday’s opening, which the city had scheduled more than a year ago.

About 400 chairs were set up under a big, white tent for the ceremony under a Carolina blue sky with a light breeze, and hundreds more brought lawn chairs and blankets.

“Happy Birthday, America,” Ray Schrump, who was a Vietnam prisoner of war “chained like an animal,” hollered to the crowd before saying the pledge of allegiance.

The park’s opening rivaled the spectacle when the $22.6 million Airborne & Special Operations Museum next door opened to about 3,000 visitors on Aug. 16, 2000. The commemoration included a jump by Golden Knight parachutists.

U.S. Sen Kay Hagan, a Democrat from North Carolina who leads the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, said the park will be a “defining landmark in our state and in our country and around the world.”

At Veterans Park, Perdue snipped a ribbon with a giant pair of scissors a few minutes before 11 a.m. as four jets from the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro roared overhead at about 900 feet.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to your North Carolina Veterans Park,” said George Breece, master of ceremonies.

The 82nd Airborne Division band struck up the “Armed Forces Salute,” and the throng of eager visitors spilled into the entrance.

Veterans, such as Joyner from Nash County, flocked to the Oath of Service Wall with the bronze hands, but they didn’t find any directory or plaques noting which bronze hands the counties represented. Those who were able pressed their hands against the chest-high castings, inspecting the folds of the skin and thickness of the fingers.

“This seems closer here,” said Joyce Ellington, a 21-year Air Force veteran. “It looks similar to mine.”

Ellington drove from Mebane representing Orange County.

“It’s beautiful,” said Ellington, who was wearing a red, white and blue hat. “I’m overwhelmed.”

Ellington brought her two grandchildren, her daughter-in-law and her son, Cedric, a staff sergeant at Fort Bragg who is scheduled to transfer to South Korea this week.

“I’m trying to following her in her big footsteps,” her son said.

Another bronze hand model was Andre Jones Sr., who spent eight years in the N.C. National Guard and fought in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. He helps veterans obtain benefits as a veterans service officer for Hertford and Gates counties, on the Virginia border.

He said the park is a wonderful tribute that might inspire others to join the military.

“It’s a way of saying thank you,” Jones said, “and letting them know they aren’t forgotten.”

Dedication ceremony slated for July 4th in Fayetteville, the park honors the state’s past, present and future veterans.

Fayetteville, NC – March 2011 – After breaking ground in February 2010, construction on the North Carolina Veterans Park is moving forward and will be ready to welcome visitors following the official dedication ceremony on July 4th, nearly 20 years after the idea first emerged.  The theme of the seven acre, $15 million park built by the city of Fayetteville, located on Bragg Boulevard adjacent to the Airborne and Special Operations Museum (ASOM), is “A veteran’s journey: life before, during and after service.”  The park is unique – it celebrates the lives and active service of all veterans while other veteran parks throughout the country typically memorialize those who have lost their lives in specific conflicts.   Overall, the park will honor the state’s past, present and future military service, it will not focus on one particular conflict or era, and will pay tribute to all five branches of service: Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

Not only will the park pay homage to veterans from North Carolina, but it will represent the state as a whole.  Soil and native plants from each North Carolina county, as well as granite from the North Carolina Granite Corp. in Mounty Airy, the world’s largest open-faced granite quarry, will be incorporated throughout the park.  The story line and vision for the park, “From the soils” will be prominently displayed upon entering the park and will carry-on as an underlying theme.

The visitor experience begins with the Community Plaza, which represents life before service. An Oath of Service Wall will be the highlight of this area.  The large, curved wall will feature bronze hand castings of 100 veterans from each North Carolina county.  The hands will line the wall positioned to symbolically represent the oath of service taken by soldiers upon enlisting, and the words of the oath will be inscribed on the wall.

In front of the Oath of Service Wall will stand 50 “Community Columns,” each with the name of a North Carolina county on either side.  The columns will include castings of the hands of four civilians from each county, a total of 400 hand imprints, to signify the soldiers’ families and North Carolina residents that have supported them.  Each casting was also made with a touch of soil from the county the civilian hands represent.

The Service Plaza section will represent life during service, and will feature a Patriot Wall, Pride and Purpose Tower, Artifact Gallery walls, and Service Arches.  The Patriot Wall begins with a water element incorporating movement to represent the excitement and action often associated with life in service.  The Reflection Wall, the central portion of the Patriot Wall, will be constructed out of highly reflective stainless steel to reflect the images of visitors and surrounding elements, in an effort to make the person feel as though they are physically a part of the environment.

The Pride and Purpose Tower is the pinnacle of the park.  Special effects lighting will highlight its presence after dark and a sky-piercing light cannon will be illuminated at times to welcome home troops or mark special occasions.

The park honors veterans in many ways, including using items made by them.  In addition to the castings of their hands, veterans will create two of seven art pieces for the Artifacts Gallery Wall. The seven sculptures – signifying commitment, courage, dedication, heroism, sacrifice, service, and honor – will be made from decommissioned military materials.   Five Service Arches, one for each branch of the military, will lead the way to the final phase of the park and a veteran’s story – life after service.  This section will feature a reflection garden.

Anchoring the park will be a 3,500 square foot visitor center, which is expected to see 200,000 visitors come through its doors each year.  In addition to being a place to pay homage to North Carolina and its long-standing relationship with the military, the North Carolina Veterans Park will be able to accommodate various military ceremonies, and is also perfect for an everyday gathering like an afternoon picnic.  Fayetteville, home to one of the largest military bases in the United States, Fort Bragg, is the ideal location for the veterans park because of its military heritage and support.

By Andrew Barksdale
Staff writer / Fayetteville Observer

North Carolina’s Veterans Park is on budget and on schedule to open with a July 4 bash in downtown Fayetteville, officials say.

Several park features, including granite walls, aluminum columns, cascading waterfalls and an amphitheater, are in the midst of construction.

The work, which began last summer with a $7.5 million contract, is scheduled to be completed by the end of June. The park will be next to the Airborne & Special Operations Museum.

The park’s architect, Urban Resource Group, is getting input from several committees and help from artists, historians and veterans.

The concept of the park is to show North Carolina veterans’ journey before their military service, during it and after it. The park will have three areas showing the three phases. The last phase has been designed for quiet reflection, a gentle pool of water and places to sit behind a gently curving wall.

Family members of veterans from all 100 counties made hand casts that will go up elsewhere in the park. A veteran selected from each county was chosen to make a cast of his or her hand raised as if taking the oath of service.

Craig Hampton, the city’s special projects director, said he hopes the park will evoke for visitors a sense of respect and appreciation for veterans

“And I think also some pride,” he added.

In 2008, the legislature gave the city $15 million — later reduced to $13.7 million amid cost-cutting — to build the state’s first park honoring military veterans. The first phase to open this summer covers about 8 acres and includes a campus connection to the Airborne & Special Operations Museum and a trail to nearby Freedom Memorial Park.

The 3,500-square-foot visitors center will be high-tech and unique. It will have a giant stained glass window depicting more than 170 ribbons of service; 35,500 dog tags suspended from the ceiling; and a 10-foot-wide globe that moves to highlight 400 conflicts around the world.

Consistent with the park’s theme, words such as “heroism,” “honor” and “strength” will be fashioned into 9-foot-tall art pieces made of decommissioned military materials and placed in the park.

All five branches will be represented throughout the park — which was not a small task in an Army-dominated town such as Fayetteville, Hampton said.

City officials hope the park will draw not only local veterans but tourists from around the country.

Staff writer Andrew Barksdale can be reached at barksdalea@fayobserver.com or 486-3565.

The Herald-Sun | 2007 file photo
Stewart Fulbright is pictured holding a 1944 portrait of himself and his wife Della in this 2007 file photo.

From staff reports / Durham Herald-Sun

DURHAM — Stewart Fulbright, a retired Tuskegee Airman and former dean of N.C. Central University’s School of Business, has been selected to represent Durham veterans by having his hands cast for a sculpture bound for the new North Carolina Veterans Park in Fayetteville.

Artist, Aaron Wallace, also a veteran, will perform the bronze casting at 10 a.m., on Saturday at Durham’s Maple Court Veteran’s Transitional Housing, 207 Commons Boulevard.

The N.C. Veterans Park will be adjacent to the Airborne and Special operation Museum in Fayetteville and will include a visitor’s center, community lawn plaza, reflective garden and amphitheater. Wallace will craft a sculpture using castings of hands from selected veterans from all 100 counties in North Carolina.

Fulbright was a World War II B-25 fighter pilot and was present with his surviving Tuskegee Airmen comrades in Washington, D.C., when they were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007.

The park will serve as a reflective space as well as a gathering place to welcome and honor veterans.

For more information, call Lou Washington at (919) 560-8387.

Robert Rufus Williams of Yadkinville was selected to have his right hand cast in bronze and placed in a display of veterans representing all 100 counties of North Carolina at the N. C. Veterans Park.

The display will open in Fayetteville on July 4, 2011.

On Monday, Williams met with Fayetteville State University Professor of Art Soni Martin at the Yadkin County Courthouse to have his hand molded in North Carolina clay. Martin is the coordinator for the casting of hands of the veterans of N. C.

“I coordinate with the counties and set up the times to make the molds for the display that will be placed in Veterans Park,” Martin said. “There are eight artists meeting with our veterans across the state. Mr. Williams’ hand mold will be sent to the foundry to be cast in bronze. The other individuals, who we call ‘reliefs’ will have their hands cast in concrete with certified soil from Yadkin County sprinkled across the cast. The plan is to have Mason® jars filled with soil from each of North Carolina’s 100 counties placed along the display to reflect the land the veterans fought to protect.”

Williams who is 85-years-old is a resident of Yadkinville and a retired teacher.  He served in the Marine Corps in World War II from Dec. 22, 1943 to May 14, 1946.

“It’s a real honor to be selected to represent our county,” Williams said. “My twin brothers, Ben and Glenn also served on the front lines in Korea as machine gunners.”

“I think this is one of the best things North Carolina has ever done for our veterans,” Veterans Service Officer Charles Knight said. “At any one time we have between 3,500 – 4,000 veterans living in Yadkin County and that number is growing every day. There is no way to know the number of residents we have serving in the military today. Before 9-11 happened we could have found that out, but after the attack and the need for security, we don’t have access to that information.

“As long as our veterans are taken care of and recognized for their service to their country, that’s all I care about,” he said.

Four other residents of the county were chosen to represent Yadkin County also Their hands were molded with N.C. clay that will be sent to the stone mason for insertion into the display.

Chosen were Farmer Larry Allen Doub from East Bend whose father served in the 75th Infantry Division of the Army during World War II. Also chosen was Community Leader Thomas Yancy Wooten of East Bend whose brother, Trasker who also served in World War II.

Also chosen was Retired Teacher Judy Davis of Hamptonville’s, whose father served with the Marine Corps in Iwo Jima.

The youngest chosen was Student Joshua Paul Christy of Hamptonville whose family has a long line of military service.

“Joshua’s father, who passed away when Joshua was five-years-old, made and installed several flagpoles that were placed in Yadkin County and other surrounding counties where American flags fly now,” Knight said. “One such flagpole stands at the Yadkin Family YMCA.”

Christy’s family history of military service includes his maternal great-grandfather who served in World War II in the European Campaign; his maternal grandmother and grandfather, retired from serving during the Gulf War; three uncles and one aunt who are actively serving around the world, Iraq and Afghanistan; and seven great uncles who have also served in the military.

“It’s a cool thing to do,” Christy said.

Martin placed Christy’s hands one atop the other while the others place a single hand in the mold. Williams’ mold was made using his right hand that he raised to take the oath of office when he joined the military.

The North Carolina Veterans Park will cover 18.3 acres next to the Airborne and Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville. A $14 million state grant is paying for construction of the park.

The park will be divided into three sections, honoring life before joining the military, time in the service and life after the service.

The park will include a 150-seat amphitheater, a tree-shaded walkway, pools and  fountains, a flag court and a 3,500-square-foot visitors center.

GREENSBORO — At attention, gentlemen: Guilford County is looking for its oldest veteran.

The Fayetteville/Cumberland County Arts Council is contributing a project to the new North Carolina State Veterans Park.

The $14 million park, which will open July 4, will cover 18.3 acres next to the Airborne and Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville and honor veterans from all of North Carolina’s 100 counties.

Each county will choose one veteran to have their right hand — with which they took the  oath of service — cast by an artist.

Those casts will be set in bronze to create a wall.

The wall will feature two supporting columns with hand-casts from four people who supported that veteran — be they spouses, children, commanders or fellow veterans.
Brenda Spach, a veterans service officer with Guilford County’s department of veterans services, is helping organize the search for the oldest veteran.

“Each county can choose their veteran however they would like,” Spach said. “The  manager has asked that we choose the oldest vet. So we’ve been looking. We talked with a gentleman who was ninety-four-and-a-half yesterday, but then the county manager got an e-mail from a woman who said her husband, a veteran, was 95. So we’re headed up.”

Spach said the artists are trying to finish the casts by Dec. 1, so the county would like to  choose its veteran by mid-November. Spach is contacting all the local service organizations for the various armed forces branches and wants the public to get in touch if they know a veteran who they think is the oldest.

Spach can be contacted by phone at Guilford County Veterans Services at 641-2957  Mondays and Thursdays or 845-7929 on Tuesdays, Wednesday or Fridays.

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com