Never forgotten
By Melinda Harrell
Published in News on November 11, 2014 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Mount Olive's new Veterans Memorial was unveiled Monday morning before a crowd of than 200 people crowded onto the lawn of the Mount Olive Housing Authority building. Nearly two years in the making, the memorial lists the names of more than 70 local residents who have died in the nation's wars dating back to World War I.
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
World War II veteran R.E. McCullen, left, and Christine Kornegay, both of Mount Olive, hold their right hands over their hearts during the singing of the national anthem. McCullen also placed a wreath at the town's new Veterans Memorial.
MOUNT OLIVE -- She waited for weeks to share the news with her husband -- to tell Sgt. James Richard Daniels she had given birth to his namesake.
LaRose Sutton Daniels had no idea that the man she longed to celebrate with had fallen in combat -- that the very day she welcomed their firstborn child into the world, the 21-year-old soldier meant to help her raise him was shot near Chu Lai, Vietnam.
So when a knock fell on her parents' door in the summer of 1969 -- when she saw two Army representatives holding a telegram -- her emotions got the best of her.
"I saw them and I knew," she said. "I started crying and saying, 'Please tell me he didn't die. Please tell me he didn't die.'"
And when they completed their charge -- and read the letter aloud -- what started as falling tears turned into a sob.
"He was shot while trying to pull one of his friends away from a fire. They didn't think it was that serious, but it was. He died in Japan in a hospital bed two weeks later," LaRose said. "We never talked about him not coming back. We talked about all the things we would do when he came home."
Sgt. Daniels was one of 75 Mount Olive-area residents honored Monday by the more than 200 people who converged on a Main Street lawn to witness the unveiling of the town's new veterans memorial.
LaRose found it fitting that so many had shown up to pay their respects to the fallen.
Mount Olive had, after all, wrapped its arms around her within 30 minutes of that fateful knock.
"What I think is very important is that the community, within 30 minutes, filled the house showing support," she said. "Their response was outstanding, and that is why I love this community."
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The Mount Olive Veterans Memorial took nearly two years to complete and was conceived, Mayor Ray McDonald Sr. said, after a conversation he had with his grandson.
The effort brought together various veterans organizations, town officials, residents and family members of the fallen.
Donations were collected.
Fundraisers were held.
And in the end, the town had created something residents said would be cherished as long as Mount Olive stands.
Jarvis Odom, a Korean War veteran and Purple Heart recipient, was among those humbled by the ceremony.
Some of his friends were immortalized in combat and are represented on the monument, he said.
"I am very proud Mount Olive built this," he said.
And guest speaker Chris Sikes, a state Veterans of Foreign Wars officer and patient advocate for the VA Health Care Center in Wilmington, said the construct was a fitting way to honor the memories of those cut down in their prime.
"America makes a lot of things, but the stand out -- the strongest, most resilient, honorable, dedicated and committed, true American product -- has had a significant impact on our lives. It exists to protect you, me and the American way of life. It is the American veteran," he said. "Today we honor them with this beautiful memorial."
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Just before the memorial was unveiled, LaRose lowered her head.
It was supposed to be a moment of silence, but her thoughts were running wild.
She was, as she has on most days since he fell, thinking of the man who stole her heart -- the Army sergeant who will, for eternity, be a 21-year-old father to be.
And when the tarp was removed and his name revealed, she thought about the times they shared -- and the moments she spent next to an etching of his name in Washington, D.C.
"I tell you, I have been to the wall in Washington several times and I think I am not going to cry, but every time I cry," LaRose said. "It is just a matter of seeing it. I can't help it."