Up & Coming Weekly

June 23, 2020

Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.

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4 UCW JUNE 24-30, 2020 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Stephanie Crider editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Jenna Shackelford jenna@upandcomingweekly.com HOPE MILLS AND SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR Earl Vaughan Jr. EarlUCWSports@gmail.com REPORTER Jeff Thompson news@upandcomingweekly.com GRAPHIC DESIGNER Elizabeth Baker art@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING ASSOCIATES Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, Karl Merritt, John Hood, Jim Jones, Shanessa Fenner, Prudence Mainor, Avery Powers, Crissy Neville ––––––––––– Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan St. P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: 910-484-6200 FAX: 910-484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. © 2020 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Various ads with art graphics designed with elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. PUBLISHER'S PEN Last week, I was interviewed by a reporter for e Washington Times who wanted to know if I was for or against the proposed renaming of the Fort Bragg military installation. Without hesita- tion, I told her I felt changing the name was an ill-conceived idea and another unfortunate knee-jerk reaction to the unsavory political unrest our nation is currently experiencing. I also told the reporter she would be hard-pressed to find five people out of 100 who even knew who Braxton Bragg was, let alone know he was a general in the Confederate Army — and an unpopular general at that. Fort Bragg has a proud and honorable history. It's home to the 82nd Airborne Division. e renaming controversy, to many, ap- pears to be another example of political exploitation of the ill-informed. It would undoubtedly deal a death blow to Fayetteville both emotionally and economi- cally, stripping it of it's one single valuable and market- able asset. Besides, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, is not the first military instal- lation named after North Carolina's native son Braxton Bragg, who was born in Warran- ton, North Carolina. In Northern California, there is an entire city named after him — Fort Bragg, California. In 1857 the U.S. military established an army post on the Mendocino Indian Reservation, and the young lieutenant in charge of that project, H. C. Gibson, named the post in honor of then-captain Brax- ton Bragg, whom he admired as his commanding officer in the Mexican-American War. Hence, Fort Bragg, California, est. 1857. e main highway, Route 20, entering this city of 7,500 is named Fort Bragg Road. Bragg went on to be a general in the Army of the Confederacy from 1861-1865. He died in 1876. Even though Bragg was one of the 750,000 Confederate soldiers who fought in the Civil War, he contributed little to history or the outcome of the war. Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was created in 1918. Forty-two years after his death. So, why did they name this military instal- lation after Bragg? Who knows. Maybe it was because he was from North Carolina. Or, maybe it was because of Fayetteville's close proximity to the Battle of Bentonville, which was the last Civil War skirmish Bragg participated in. With the naming of an Army post 42 years after his death, it's doubtful it had anything to do with elevating or advocating for antiquated Confederate values. What's important today is what this proud military installa- tion means to our soldiers, our community, the nation and the world. Fort Bragg is much more than a name; it's an institution with a global reach and humanity's assurance that goodwill always triumphs over evil. In a former career and for over a quarter of a century, I trav- eled coast to coast working and meeting tens of thousands of people in hundreds of cities and towns across America. Never, and I mean never, when I introduced myself and told them I'm from Fayetteville, North Carolina, did they not instinctively mention Fort Bragg with an enthusiastic sense of patriotism and pride. ey understand that as one of the largest military bases in the country, we house and deploy the most impres- sive, mightiest and deadliest fighting machine on Earth. Worldwide, people know Fort Bragg. ey trust Fort Bragg. ey respect Fort Bragg, and our enemies fear Fort Bragg. ey know that anywhere in the world, when a nation gets in trouble and dials 911, it is Fort Bragg that picks up the phone. Fort Bragg is an American icon of freedom, pride, patriotism, justice and democracy. Fort Bragg is synonymous with world security and stability. Changing the name of the most historically significant American military installation in the world just to appease the reactions of political activists looking to make a statement is not worth debasing the spirit of North Carolina, the Fayetteville community or the patriotic pride of the millions of soldiers, vet- erans and their families that have called Fort Bragg their home. We can only pray that common sense prevails in this matter. After all, that's a lot of street signs to change and birth certifi- cates to reissue. ank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. Fort Bragg: An American institution with a global reach by BILL BOWMAN BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COM- MENTS? BILL@upandcomin- gweekly.com. 910-484-6200. HIGH HIGH 92 92 LOW LOW 74 74 HIGH HIGH 93 93 HIGH HIGH 89 89 HIGH HIGH 93 93 HIGH HIGH 87 87 LOW LOW 74 74 LOW LOW 71 71 JUNE 29 JUNE 28 JUNE 26 JUNE 27 JUNE 30 Scattered Thunderstorms Partly Cloudy PM Thunderstorms Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Isolated Thunderstorms JUNE 25 THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY HIGH HIGH 83 83 LOW LOW 69 69 LOW LOW 74 74 TUESDAY LOW LOW 71 71 When the world calls 911, it is Fort Bragg that answers.

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