MURFREESBORO – Veteran’s Day was a three-fold event here Saturday.

As townspeople and R-C area residents gathered in honor of America’s heroes, the town rolled out the red carpet with a ceremony at Town Hall, a ground breaking for the Murfreesboro War Memorial and a Veteran’s Day Exhibition at the Elizabeth Sewell Parker Memorial Library.

The Municipal Town Hall was filled to capacity with standing room only for the Veteran’s Day ceremony, which got underway at 10:30 a.m.

Joe Dickerson, with opening remarks, acknowledged the crowd with his heartfelt “thanks for this record attendance.”

Herman Clark led the Pledge of Allegiance followed by Rev. Lee Canipe’s invocation and remarks.

Dr. Greg Parker, Director of Choral Activities at Chowan University, sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” and “America the Beautiful.”

Murfreesboro Mayor Lynn Johnson welcomed everyone with her heartfelt thanks to everyone in attendance and appreciation of the veterans. Bill Sowell then introduced the veterans, with each standing in recognition, stating their name, time served and saying a little about their role in the military.

Chris Jernigan, a Chowan University junior majoring in Music Education, trumpeted the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” He added the somber “Taps” at the close of the ceremony.

William Whitley then read a poem entitled, “A Place in Normandy.”

Billy Futrell then talked about the alarming World War II death rate among American veterans, which he stated as, “1500 per day.”

Former District Attorney David Beard choked back the tears as he talked about veterans. Earlier, Beard arrived with a group of boys belonging to the Murfreesboro Park Recreation League who wanted to take a basketball practice break and attend the ceremony.

The event’s featured speaker was Captain Edwin Joseph Burdick. He spoke on the origin of Veteran’s Day.

Joe McLean offered the benediction.

Following a short break for refreshments, the audience and guests moved outside for the groundbreaking ceremony for the historic Murfreesboro War Memorial. That memorial honoring local men and women who served America’s military branches, will be in front of the Municipal Building. According to Dickerson, over 400 names have already been submitted thus far for engraving. If things progress as planned, the memorial is scheduled to be dedicated next year.

Dickerson added that over 90 percent of the $52,000 needed to construct the memorial has been obtained. He expressed thanks to those who have contributed to date.

The ceremony moved to the library for the Veteran’s Day exhibition. That exhibition n which includes uniforms, books, photos, old newspaper articles and written memoirs n continues through Nov. 30.

Librarian Beverly Warrick thanked Carol Farnham, Phyllis Parker, the library staff and others who made the exhibit a success.

Refreshments were also served at this event.