News Release

Carolina to dedicate memorial to alumni war dead

CHAPEL HILL – “I found a wounded Federal sitting on the field – a broken thigh, a rifle ball through his arm and a bruised shoulder made him right helpless … He asked me if I thought our surgeons would care for him. I assured him they would. He said he had a wife and two little children ….” – Alexander Davis Betts, Civil War.

Betts’ quote is one of 16 from or about University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni that are part of a new memorial to be dedicated Thursday (April 12) from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. in a free public ceremony.

Titled “Carolina Alumni Memorial in Memory of Those Lost in Military Service,” the installation, on Cameron Avenue between Phillips and Memorial halls, honors university alumni who were killed during wartime, from the Civil War to the Gulf War. To date, the war in Iraq has claimed no Carolina graduates.

The names of all 684 known alumni who perished are listed in a bronze Book of Names with pull-out panels. Space was left for additional names that were not discovered in research for the memorial – as well as those who may be lost in the future.

The memorial also consists of a long bench near Cameron Avenue that points to the Old Well. The street side is a stone wall like those common across campus. The other side, facing the rest of the memorial, is a red sandstone bench inscribed with a quote from “Look Homeward Angel,” a novel by university alumnus Thomas Wolfe. The bench faces six low stone walls and 10 small blooming trees, bisected by a sidewalk with the quotes inscribed.

University of North Carolina President Emeritus William C. Friday, a World War II veteran, will speak at Thursday’s ceremony; UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser will preside; current ROTC students will present the colors. Approximately 45 ROTC midshipmen and cadets will attend in dress uniform.

Guests will include alumnus Robert W. Eaves, who conceived the idea for the memorial while visiting the American cemetery in Normandy, France. “It came to me that we didn’t have a place on campus to honor people who died in service to their country,” said the Chapel Hill businessman.

Back home, he recruited fellow ROTC Carolina alumni Sherwood H. Smith Jr. (Navy) and Charles M. Winston Sr. (Air Force) of Raleigh. The three headed a committee that raised $300,000 for the memorial, mostly from ROTC alumni. Smith, Winston  and Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, Eaves’ wife, also are expected to attend the ceremony Thursday.

Smith is the retired chief executive officer of Carolina Power & Light Co. (now Progress Energy); Winston is a retired businessman who has chaired the General Alumni Association and received its distinguished service medal and a Davie Award, the highest honor bestowed by the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees.

Maggie Smith of Washington state, artist and designer for the memorial, and relatives of fallen Carolina alumni also are expected. Will and Marsha Connor of Marcellus, N.Y., whose son Patrick was killed in the Gulf War, will unveil the Book of Names with Sandra Drew of Herndon, Va., the wife of UNC alumnus Nelson Drew, who was killed in Bosnia

High-ranking military officials scheduled to attend are: Col. Bryan Bearden, Air Force; Maj. Gen. Robert C. Dickerson Jr., Marines; Maj. Gen. William E. Ingram Jr., N.C. National Guard; Capt. William “Dean” Lee, Coast Guard; Col. Mason Phornal, Army; Cmdr. Thomas B. Stevens, Navy Reserve; and Col. Russell K. Walden, Air Force.

Also representing the military will be Charles F. Smith, director of the N.C. Division of Veterans Affairs, and UNC-Chapel Hill faculty members and commanding officers of the three Carolina ROTC units:  Lt. Col. Gregory A. Daddis, Army, professor of military science; Lt. Col. Mark Hubbard, Air Force, professor of aerospace studies; and Capt. Steve Matts, Navy, professor of naval science.

Eaves was on the committee that raised $5.1 million toward the $18 million renovation of Memorial Hall, completed in 2005. Constructed in 1931, the building – the main auditorium on campus for the performing arts and university ceremonies – was a memorial to David Lowry Swain, president of the university from 1835-1868 and North Carolina Governor from 1831-1835. It also memorialized alumni who died in the Civil War and World War I, as well as outstanding alumni and North Carolinians. Eaves realized that alumni lost in other conflicts had no memorial on campus.

Now, alumni who served in Korea, Vietnam, the World Wars and others – or others who observed their service – share sentiments and stories on the sidewalk.

“In the sacrifice that your son and others like him have made, I hope that all of us will live and work toward the end of eliminating war from the earth.” – J. Maryon Saunders, on James Atkins, World War II.

University Advancement contact: Scott Ragland, 962-0027, scott_ragland@unc.edu