Documenting the American South

Monument Name

Dare County Veterans Memorial, Manteo

Type

War Memorial

Subjects

World War I

World War II

Veterans of Multiple Wars

Iraq War, 2003-2011

Vietnam War, 1960-1975

Korean War, 1950-1953

Creator

Clifton-Clifton Monuments, Elizabeth City, NC, Builder

City

Manteo

County

Dare

Description

The granite monument has a three faced center column flanked by two smaller single face columns. The memorial is approximately 12 feet wide and 7 feet high. The center column in addition to inscriptions has carved insignia representing the Army, Air Force, Merchant Marines, Navy and Marines. On the front face of the center column is a peace dove flying above stacked rifles. Red brick laid in a herring bone pattern surrounds the monument. A bronze plaque listing the War Memorial Committee member’s names is set into the brick directly in front of the monument. Two granite benches sit to either side and a nautical flag pole stands directly behind the center column.

Inscription

Front, top of center column: IN HONOR OF ALL WHO SERVED

Front, bottom of center column: DARE / COUNTY / VETERANS / MEMORIAL / 1989

Front, left column: WORLD WAR I / 1917-1918 / DENNIS S. TWIFORD / WORLD WAR II / 1941-1945 / THOMAS S. FEARING / M. BLACKWELL CREEF / LAWSON H. BARNETT / CHARLES F. MIDGETT, JR. / NORMAN W. PAYNE / JAMES D. WILLIAMS / DARIUS T. MIDGETT / ROBERT W. DUVALL / PALMER L. GRAY / ELVIN E. HOOPER / THOMAS R. JOHNSON / JOHN A. MACKEY / JOHN C. O’NEAL / CHESLEY G. WISE / MYRON F. HOOPER / EDWARD D. MIDGETT

Front, right column: KOREA / 1950-1953 / IRAQ / 2003- / M. HUGH CADDY / VIETNAM / 1964-1973 / HERMAN C. CAHOON / WILLIAM S. SIMMONS, JR. / LEO M. JENNETTE / WILLIAM SIEGRIST / RONNIE H. BEALS

Front, base: THE GENTILE WAIL OF A BUGLER’S TAPS ECHOES IN HONOR OF THESE OUR FALLEN

Dedication Date

November 10, 1989

Decade

1980s

Geographic Coordinates

35.909840 , -75.669900 View in Geobrowse

Supporting Sources

“Crowd Gathers To Memorialize War Dead,” The Coastland Times (Manteo, NC), November 12, 1989, 1

“Dare County Veterans Memorial, Manteo, NC,” Waymarking.com, (accessed June 3, 2015) Link

“Dare County Veterans Memorial,” The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed June 3, 2015) Link

“Memorial Holiday Calls Attention To Plans in Dare,” The Coastland Times (Manteo, NC), May 28, 1989

“Veterans Remembered,” The Coastland Times (Manteo, NC), October 31, 1989, 1

Public Site

Yes

Materials & Techniques

Granite

Sponsors

Dare County War Memorial Committee

Monument Cost

$20,000

Monument Dedication and Unveiling

After a program of patriotic music by youth from county schools, members of the fund-raising committee uncovered the flower bedecked monument. The day’s moderator, Moncie “Punk” Daniels III, told the crowd estimated at 200 people that “patriotism, like religion, is not inherited, it must be taught.” Names of those on the monument were read aloud followed by a gun salute and the playing of taps.

Location

The memorial is located at the intersection of Sir Walter Raleigh Street and Queen Elizabeth Avenue on the southwest lawn of the Dare County Historic Courthouse at 300 Queen Elizabeth Avenue in Manteo, NC. In July 2010, the Dare County Arts Council (DCAC) relocated to the building.
Fort Raleigh Gateway, originally constructed at what is now the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, was relocated to the intersection of Queen Elizabeth Avenue and Budleigh Street.

Landscape

The monument seats on a well maintained lawn surrounded by low boxwood bushes.