Rally draws crowd to courthouse

Hundreds of people turned out for Honor America Day, waving flags, wearing ribbons and even painting themselves red, white and blue.

“Our hearts are broken; our spirit is unbreakable,” read one entry on the Wall of Prayer, a collection of thoughts and prayers for victims of the terrorist attacks two weeks ago.

That sentiment seemed to sum up the mood on the courthouse lawn Sunday, where more than 500 people remembered victims and showed unity in preparation for military action.

Jeff Stanley drove from Granite Quarry in his big rig, draped on three sides with American flags.

“I bleed red, white and blue,” said Stanley, a Desert Storm veteran who “will go back and serve Operation Infinite Justice if they need me.”

After watching the terrorist attacks on TV, he attached the flags to his tractor-trailer, which already was painted red, white and blue.

When he drives across the country, people “give me thumbs up. Some blow their horns, some flash their lights, especially police and firefighters,” said Stanley, who stood with his wife, Tammy, and their four children.

The large turnout surprised organizers, who ran out of programs and helium balloons. The Wall of Prayer grew to three times the size expected. And the crowd had to squeeze together to fit in a group picture that will grace the cover of greeting cards sent to President Bush and leaders in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, sites of the four plane crashes.

The terrorists failed in their plan, the Rev. Murray Edwards said, and actually brought the country closer together and closer to God.

“Things that were meant to destroy will bring us new determination,” he said.

People here can do much to help, Salisbury Mayor Susan Kluttz said.

Continue giving blood and donating to the American Red Cross, United Way, Salvation Army, churches and disaster relief efforts, she said.

Citizens already have donated $50,000 to the local Red Cross chapter, Executive Director Evelyn McMahon said.

Support the economy by spending money at local businesses, traveling, flying and investing in the stock market, Kluttz said.

“Make a special effort to love each other,” she said. “Our differences in races and religions should be overshadowed by the bond we have as Americans.”

Help children, who were particularly devastated when they watched “a horror movie turn into reality.”

“We cannot let fear paralyze us,” she said. “When we begin to feel fear, we must replace it with faith — faith in God, faith in our government and faith that good will win out over evil.”

Many stood under the American flag, flying at full staff for the first time since Sept. 11. Singer Debbie Hubbard led the crowd in several patriotic songs, and more than a dozen local, county and state officials filled the stage area.

America has fought many battles, losing something in each but coming back “bigger, better and stronger” every time, Rowan County Commissioner Steve Blount said.

But the military can’t win this war alone, said Col. Robert Sides, commander of the 449th Aviation Group, Army National Guard.

“The outcome will be decided by the the American people and by freedom-loving people throughout the world,” he said.

While “man’s inhumanity to man is one of life’s great mysteries,” a great miracle is “our ability to join hands and come together for a common purpose,” he said.

Pam Lundy said she brought her son Cody, 3, to “show him what it is to be an American.”

“We put aside our differences to be united as one,” said Lundy, who sported a red, white and blue bandanna on her head.

Lundy supports military action, although “I hate it for our troops,” she said.

Shirley Moss came because she has relatives in the military “who will probably be directly involved with whatever our nation is getting ready to do.”

“It’s just what you do at a time like this,” said Moss, who teaches social studies at Knox Middle School.

The Rev. Bill Godair closed the event with a benediction and asked people to look up, not down, so they could watch the balloons they’d released float into the sky.

After the ceremony, people lingered.

Jeff Stanley and others with patriotic vehicles drove by the courthouse honking and waving.

The celebration created several mementos, including the Wall of Prayer, which organizers hope to display in a downtown Salisbury storefront, then send to New York City.

The city will sell the photo greeting cards and donate the proceeds to disaster relief efforts.

They will be available in about two weeks, said Melissa Taylor, who can be reached at 704-638-5229.

Sponsors were the Salisbury-Rowan Human Relations Council, Covenant Community Connection, Downtown Salisbury Inc., City of Salisbury and Rowan County.