Coming Saturday Saturday: Thomasville Depot History East Davidson and Ledford advance to second round of state playoffs. See SPORTS, Page 7
Thursday, May 20, 2010
THOMASVILLE
Times
INSIDE TODAY Business Columnist Marilyn Taylor continues her series on Tactics for Personal Change. See BUSINESS, Page 4 119th Year - No. 98 50 Cents
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Blood clots to sideline Vickers at Charlotte
VIETNAM VETERAN’S MEMORIAL
BY ELIOT DUKE Staff Writer
TIMES PHOTO/ERIN WILTGEN
A yellow ribbon — representing one of the 100 counties in North Carolina — hangs on a River Birch Tree at the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial on I-85 in Thomasville.
Fallen but not forgotten BY ERIN WILTGEN Staff Writer
J
ust standing in silence within the brick-ringed clearing can evoke an overwhelming sense of awe. Sitting back, watching fingers trace over the names of loved ones and seeing mouths move in silent prayer brings tears to the eyes. For Joe Leonard, the North
Carolina Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial is almost a sacred place, filled with memories and hope and loss. “I don’t know if the number of people that’ve gone in there, if they’ve felt reverence, a sense of patriotism, a sense of loss,” Vietnam vet Joe Leonard said. “It’s awesome to go in there and then have this feeling that you get just standing there among these people that gave everything they had.”
The memorial, constructed in 1991, features a wall built of 1,647 bricks — each manufactured in North Carolina — naming the North Carolina soldiers who died or went missing in Vietnam. The clearing is ringed with a brick path bordered by 100 North Carolina River Birch trees decorated with yellow ribbons, one for each of the 100 North Carolina counties. The memorial also honors the more than 216,000 North
Carolinians who served in the war. “It symbolizes the ones who have given their lives for our freedom,” said former Thomasville Mayor Hubert Leonard, Joe Leonard’s brother. “It just honors them. It’s probably one of the central points of recognizing the people, particularly those in Vietnam, who sacrificed.” Hubert Leonard was a ma-
Staff Writer
The name may have changed, but the meaning and symbolism remains the same. On May 31, Thomasville will again host what is now called the North Carolina Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony Inc., continuing a tradition that has grown into the largest such event in the Southeast. What started out as a gathering at a veteran’s memorial near Cushwa Stadium 20 years ago, the annual Memorial Day parade now at-
tracts crowds exceeding 25,000 people. “We can’t think of a better way to honor all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have today,” Staff Sgt. and event chairman Joe Leonard said. “It keeps growing every year and we are so proud that so many people come to Thomasville to not only pay tribute to our soldiers, but to experience a
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great civics lesson.” Leonard’s brother, Hubert, first started the idea when the World War II veteran felt the memorial near Cushwa Stadium wasn’t being kept up properly. In an effort to bring more recognition to the sacrifice of veterans, Joe and Hubert, along with many others, began holding a small service of less
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Program aims to prevent child abductions BY ERIN WILTGEN Staff Writer
than 100 people. As time went on, the event grew to what is now the largest Memorial Day celebration in North Carolina. Joe Leonard feels the parade is important to young people who may not be aware of all the sacrifices that were made to make their way of life possible. “A vast majority of young people have no idea the price that’s paid for the freedoms they enjoy,” said Leonard. “Here, you get to see the people who actually did it.
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Today’s Weather
Partly Cloudy 77/57
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Though ransom notes and human trafficking may seem the elements of movies and third world countries, statistics prove such thoughts to be nothing more than a misconception. The U.S. Department of Justice reports that 797,000 children younger than 18 were reported missing in a one-year period with an average of 2,185 reported missing each day. “We were just alarmed by the statistics,” said Lois Hunter, executive director of Thomasville Housing Authority. “We have children in our community and we wanted to makes awareness to the community for the safety of our children.” Thomasville Housing Authority will hold a Community Safety Fair Take 25 Campaign event on Tuesday, May 25, from 5 to 8 p.m. to commemorate National Missing Children’s Day. Take 25, a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s program, encourages par-
Memorial Day events offer chance to say thanks BY ELIOT DUKE
Thomasville’s Brian Vickers is still recovering from blood clots and will not race in this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Red Bull Team Racing announced on Wednesday that Vickers, who also missed last Sunday’s race at Dover International Vickers speedway, will be replaced in the No. 83 Toyota by Casey Mears, at least through this weekend. Mears finished 22nd in the No. 83 at the Autism Speaks 400 just days after Mears Vickers checked himself into a Washington D.C. hospital after feeling discomfort in his chest last week. Doctors diagnosed
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