Fayetteville Memorial Cemetery

Christopher HarrisThe memorial service for Spc. Christopher Harris, a local soldier who died in the line of duty earlier this month, will be held Monday at Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery.A native of Jackson Springs, Harris was one of two 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers from Fort Bragg killed in an attack on a convoy in southern Afghanistan on Aug. 2. The 25-year-old was on his first deployment.Visitation will take place from noon until 1:30 p.m. at Jerrigan Warren Funeral Home in Fayetteville. A procession will then travel to the cemetery, which is located at 400 Murchison Road in Spring Lake.Flyers are being shared across social media inviting members of the public to “show (their) support by lining the mile-entrance of the cemetery with American flags” before the procession arrives. A graveside service with “full military honors” is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., according to the funeral home.Harris joined the Army in October 2013. He is decorated with several awards, including The Bronze Star Medal for heroic or meritorious achievement or service.He and his wife Britt Harris, who is also from Moore County, were expecting their first child. An online fundraiser, organized by a friend to help Britt Harris, had raised more than $61,000 as of Saturday evening. (Southern Pines Pilot)

The governor wants such Confederate artifacts moved to museums and historic sites. Paul Woolverton Staff writer @FO_Woolverton
 Fayetteville’s Confederate soldier statue stands on a pedestal in a park-like, state-owned traffic island in Haymount, hidden behind trees and rarely noticed by passing drivers.“It’s a war memorial to the common soldier,” said Bruce Daws, the city’s historic properties manager.The rifle-toting rebel on Dobbin Avenue at Morganton Road is one of two monuments installed in Fayetteville to honor Confederate soldiers, according to state records. If Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has his way, statues like this one, which was first erected more than a century ago across town, would be removed and placed in museums or at historic sites.Cooper on Tuesday issued statements in a YouTube video and on the Medium website calling for the removal of Confederate monuments from places of honor on state-owned property. This was in response to the deadly violence over the weekend surrounding a plan to remove Confederate statues in Charlottesville, Virginia, and an angry crowd ripping down a Confederate statue in Durham on Monday.“I don’t pretend to know what it’s like for a person of color to pass by one of these monuments and consider that those memorialized in stone and metal did not value my freedom or humanity,” Cooper said on Medium.“We cannot continue to glorify a war against the United States of America fought in the defense of slavery. These monuments should come down,” he said.Cumberland County legislators Elmer Floyd and Marvin Lucas said they agree with Cooper. Both are black Democrats in the state House and Floyd is an Army veteran.“I think it’s an excellent idea,” Floyd said.“Well, you know, the Civil War’s been over now since 1865,” Lucas said. “How long are we going to hold on to symbols of a losing cause?”The four other lawmakers who represent Cumberland County could not be reached for comment Wednesday on Cooper’s thoughts. These are Democratic state Rep. Billy Richardson, who is white; Republican state Rep. John Szoka, a white Ar... (Fayetteville Observer)