Confederate memorial service held at Willowdale Cemetery
By Dennis Hill
Published in News on May 16, 2016 1:46 PM
News-Argus/DENNIS HILL
Members of the 1st North Carolina Regiment of Civil War re-enactors fire a volley in honor of Confederate Memorial Day on Sunday at Willowdale Cemetery. From left are Craig Braswell, Allen Aycock and Trent Howell.
A Confederate Memorial Day service was held Sunday at Willowdale Cemetery.
Sponsored by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, it honored the more than 1,000 Confederate veterans buried in the cemetery.
"We have a right to be proud of these men," said keynote speaker Kirk Keller. "We're very proud of this cemetery, this history and this heritage. There is no reason for us to be ashamed of our history."
But Keller said he was ashamed of the way that some people have used the Confederate flag to advance racial prejudice and bigotry.
"I am ashamed of the way some people use our flag," he said. "I ask you to turn your back on those who do so."
Historian and author Stacey Jones unveiled a memorial to William Henry Harrison Cobb, a member of the Goldsboro Rifles, who was a surgeon in a Confederate regiment and later one of the state's preeminent physicians, serving as president of the North Carolina Medical Society in the late 1800s.
"He was a great citizen of Goldsboro," Jones said.
Dan Boyettte sang the ballad "Lorena," which was a favorite among the Confederate troops, and "The Bonnie Blue Flag." Memorial wreaths were laid at the foot of the mass grave of Confederate dead in the cemetery.
Keller thanked the Friends of Willowdale Cemetery for their work and noted the history that lies buried there. He said local historians continue to research those veterans buried in the cemetery and noted several that had only recently been identified.