Thomasville draws crowd for Memorial Day parade

THOMASVILLE

The largest Memorial Day observance in the state is not in the metropolitan cities of Raleigh or Charlotte, nor is it in the military towns of Fayetteville or Jacksonville. It is here in the Triad city of Thomasville, population 26,526.

It started in 1990, when retired Maj. Gen. Hubert Leonard -- who later became mayor of Thomasville -- organized a ceremony to lay wreaths and say a prayer. Gradually, Leonard added a parade, and speakers, and military exhibits. Yesterday's celebration included an appearance by the Army's Golden Knights, who jumped from an airplane over Cushwa Stadium onto the field.

"It's a big deal for this little town," said Melissa Farrell, who grew up in Thomasville, and who yesterday brought her son, 6-year-old Tristan, to the parade for the first time. "This is his first experience in my hometown. And then the parade, with all the veterans -- I just felt such a sense of honor to be here for them."

The parade included Congressman Howard Coble, riding in a silver Corvette. He was followed by Maj. Curry Regan, a World War II veteran, in a Jeep painted in Army green and brown. Next came a sedan and truck, carrying the family of Staff Sgt. Scott W. Brunkhorst, killed March 30 in Afghanistan. His family was followed by the families of Capt. Daniel P. Whitten, killed Feb. 2; Sgt. 1st Class Edward C. Kramer and Spc. Robert L. Bittiker, killed June 29, 2009; Spc. Josiah D. Crumpler, killed March 1; and 1st Lt. Leevi Barnard, killed May 21, 2009.

The Military Order of the Purple Heart, N.C. "Northern" Mountain Chapter, followed, marching, with one man keeping their footsteps in time. Miss North Carolina, UNC-Charlotte graduate student Katherine Elizabeth Southard, passed in another silver Corvette.

"Miss North Carolina for governor!" a parade-watcher shouted.

She laughed, never interrupting her wave. "Not yet," she replied.

A string of dignitaries followed, local judges, the mayors of Lexington, Wallburg and Midway. A state representative passed in a yellow Corvette. An Iraq war veteran -- who is also a candidate for the U.S. Senate -- came by in a red Corvette. Next came a Davidson County commissioner in a silver Corvette, then Sgt. Michael Goode, a Wal-Mart representative, in a maroon Corvette.

Bagpipes sounded. A group of Naval Sea Cadets -- a Navy program for teenagers -- marched by. An SUV, pickup truck and tractor-trailer followed, each hauling a helicopter.

"Everyone likes to see a helicopter," one woman said to her son. "How cool is that?"

There were desert-sand-colored Humvees, antique cars, military tanks, a small submarine. An airplane wheeled down Stadium Drive, propellers twirling.

The High Point HiToms, a summer wooden bat team made up of college baseball players, marched by wearing red hats and gray jerseys. Miss Thomasville and Thomasville's Outstanding Teen were followed by the Thomasville Rifles, the local camp of the N.C. Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who carried Confederate flags and wore Confederate War-era uniforms.

Then came a dance team, marching band and drum line, followed by a little girl marching next to a scaled-down Liberty Bell that bore a sign reading, "In memory of my father. Let freedom ring."

Rain started to sprinkle as the tail of the parade -- the Thomasville Rescue Squad and the Tom Holladay Orchestra -- pulled into the stadium parking lot.

Joe Leonard, a former Army drill sergeant and the brother of Hubert Leonard, took on organizing the Thomasville Memorial Day celebration eight years ago. Leonard estimated that between 10,000 and 12,000 people watched yesterday's parade.

Leonard and a committee of more than 100 people start planning the celebration in August of each year. He volunteers, he guesses, about 5,000 hours a year making the Memorial Day celebration a reality.

He does it in part for the families of military who have been killed in action.

"There was a young mother -- she's only 36 years old and her only son had been killed ...," Leonard said. "When she came into Thomasville, and saw all of these people lining the streets in memory of her son, she said it gave her a little bit of closure."

And, he said, he does it to offer a civic lesson.

"A lot of Americans look upon this thing as just another holiday, and it is not," he said.

"This is a day to honor your war dead. This is a day to honor those who gave you the right to make your decisions -- whether you're going to the beach, or to the mountains, or you're just sitting inside enjoying your air conditioning. Someone paid a price for you to do that."

lgraff@wsjournal.com | 727-7279