Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2010 12:11:35 -0400
From: Parker Stockdale
Subject: Courthouse restoration and statue
I too hope the courthouse is restored to exactly the way it looked before the fire. As for the Confederate memorial, it had better stay right where it is. Whatever one thinks of the motivations of the Confederacy, many brave men answered the call to fight for their homeland. Let us remember that more North Carolinians than any other state volunteered for service and our losses were proportionate. It was the band of the 26th North Carolina Infantry that played the last music that many Virginian’s heard on July 3, 1863 at Gettysburg. I had a relative in Company C, 117th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, but regardless of where the sentiments of anyone’s dead relatives lay, Confederate memorials are eloquent and an essential part of our history and add much to the delicious, rich fabric of our beloved state. Parker Stockdale.