How Vance County's fallen soldiers are remembered

May 27—HENDERSON — Elegies for fallen soldiers can be found throughout Vance County this Memorial Day.

They are in Blacknall Cemetery, Elmwood Cemetery and Sunset Cemetery. They are in the crosses placed beside the American Legion hut on Garnett Street.

They are in the plaques in downtown churches.

And they are found in cemeteries beside the small churches that dot the area.

Headstones in those church cemeteries bear dates that mark the wars of the last century — two World Wars, the Korean war, Vietnam or the more recent conflicts in the Middle East.

The headstones stand on the resting places of the men who, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, "gave the last full measure of devotion."

Not all will receive public recognition. But they have been — and perhaps still are — remembered by their loved ones and friends.

Some will be remembered secondhand, not through personal contact but through family stories and memorabilia.

In the Island Creek Baptist Church cemetery on Stagecoach Road north of Henderson, a weathered headstone carries the inscription: HUSTON H AVERETTE NORTH CAROLINA PFC 330 INF WORLD WAR II APRIL 17 1921 JULY 18 1944.

Averette was the uncle of Vance County resident Barbara Riggan. Averette was her mother's brother. Riggan was 5 when he died and has only a slight memory of her uncle. "He was the baby in the family of nine kids," she said. He was buried with military honors, she added.

The family knows little of the details of Averette's death. His unit, the 330th Infantry Regiment, took part in the invasion of France at Normandy in June 1944. Averette's death on July 18 came six days before the unit broke out of Normandy and began the pursuit of German forces across northern France.

Harry C. Hedgepeth died on Feb. 2, 1944, in the battle for Monte Cassino in Italy. Hedgepeth was a private first class in the 34th Infantry Division, part of the joint American-British-French force that struggled for four months — January to May in 1944 — before finally taking Cassino.

He is buried in the Union Chapel United Methodist Church cemetery on Raleigh Road.

Five years after Hedgepeth's death, a Hedgepeth baby was born to the wife of the soldier's brother in Maria Parham Hospital on Chestnut Street in Henderson.

Harry M. Hedgepeth, who now lives in Florida, was given his uncle's first name, but knows little about his uncle, only what his family told him.

The cemetery at Liberty Christian Church in Epsom contains representatives of "the last full measure of devotion" from each of the major conflicts of the 20th century — four graves encapsulating the history of the century.

Sgt. Eugene T. Lassiter died on Sept. 30, 1918, at Bellicourt, France, in one of the last big offensives of the First World War.

James Tasker Weldon, a fireman first class in the U.S. Navy, died on Aug. 19, 1944, during World War II, according to the headstone marking his grave. He was 21.

Cpl. Charles Edward Ivey died in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Nov. 29, 1950. In 2015, The Dispatch chronicled how his remains were identified through DNA testing and returned home to Epsom 65 years after his death.

Lt. Col. Donald Arrington Joyner died in 1972 when his badly damaged aircraft attempted to make an emergency landing in Thailand after a bombing run over Vietnam.

Not all deaths were the result of enemy action. Claude Harris, who is buried in the Mount Moriah AME Zion Church cemetery, died of influenza in January 1919, a victim of the pandemic that swept the globe in 1918-19.

Nearby are graves for Pvt. Jack Daniel Basey Jr. (Sept. 1, 1915-Jan. 27, 1945), Quartermaster Corps, and Jerry Junious Harris Jr. (Feb. 15, 1918-Sept. 30, 1942), who died in Riverside, California, although it is not clear whether from disease, accident or wounds received in combat.

Similar memorials can be found at other churches throughout the county.

In the Cokesbury United Methodist Church cemetery, Robert E Mabry lies at rest. He died on Nov. 4, 1918 at the age of 24. The inscription on his headstone reads: "Died with honor in the service of his country."

Pvt. Perry Wilson Ayscue is buried in New Bethel Baptist Church cemetery on the Vance County/Franklin County line. He served in the 8th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Division. His unit was engaged in combat in the Hurtgen Forest just inside the German border in early December, 1944, according to the division history. His tombstone indicates that Ayscue was killed in action on Dec. 1.

Walter and Carrie Fields-Christmas lost two sons during the war, although not to enemy action. Seaman First Class Walter Christmas Jr., died of rheumatic fever. Another son, Pvt. Simon P. Christmas, died of appendicitis. Walter Jr. is buried in the Flat Rock Missionary Baptist cemetery in Williamsboro, where his parents were later interred.

Memorial Day 2022 will be observed on Monday, May 30.