Event pays tribute to veterans

(TOP LEFT) Buck and Peggy Jolly of Gaffney prepare dinner as the Patriots would have during the Revolutionary War. The Jollys are members of the Battle of Kings Mountain Brigade of Friends and Backcountry Militia and took part in the re-enactment Saturday. Confederate soldiers executed a man who joined the Union Army while a minister being tried as a deserter was spared his life.

The Sons of the Confederate Veterans, Moses Wood Camp 125, also re-enacted a skirmish between Southern forces and a group of Federals whose purpose was to burn Limestone Springs, presently known as Gaffney. The Civil War re-enactors drilled and had bayonet practice against an Abe Lincoln-inspired target.

The Civil War re-enactors demonstrated to spectators how soldiers cooked, made their own ammunition and survived at camp. Many of them wore hand-sewn uniforms using the same materials and patterns as their ancestors.

There were speakers and a front row viewing of the restoration progress of a UH-1H Huey 764 helicopter flown in Vietnam and Korea as the American Legion Post 109 and the Veterans Museum brought 251 years of military history to life Saturday.

Ledger photos by TARA JENNINGS (TOP) A Civil War soldier makes his own ammunition as members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Moses Wood Camp 125 patrol the area awaiting a re-enactment trial during a Veterans Appreciation Day held Saturday. "As much as possible, we want to do everything like they did in 1961," said Sgt. Gary Snead of the Moses Wood Camp.

Tours of the veterans museum featured military treasures such as a World War I Manser, World War II German breast plate medal, and a samurai sword taken from a dead Japanese captain on Tarawa Island in 1944.

Re-enactors from the Backcountry Militia and Brigade of Friends showed a more civilized side of Revolutionary War-era life.

Guest speakers included Will Graves, Jim Crocker, Ranger John Robertson, James Clary and Snead, discussing topics ranging from The World Wars to the history of weaponry.

The tribute to veterans was held at the American Legion Hut at the corner of South Logan and Montgomery Streets.