Stokes County veterans were honored at a Memorial Day Service at the old Stokes County Courthouse in Danbury on Sunday, May 30. George Hicks Jr., the author of several books about Stokes County, was the featured speaker. Hicks is writing a new book entitled North Carolina Troops and Their Battles.

Fifty people, including nine Confederate re-enactors, heard a presentation about the sacrifice of soldiers from Stokes County in the Battles at Gettysburg on July 1, 2 and 3, 1863.

The most heavily engaged company from Stokes County, Company D, 52nd Regiment, had a 51 percent casualty rate in Pickett’s charge. The Brown Mountain Boys, namesake of the local Sons of Confederate Veterans group, suffered a 30 percent casualty rate at Gettysburg.

Several people recited the names of family members or friends who died in time of war.

The program concluded with the laying of floral tributes at the Confederate Monument on the Courthouse grounds. The re-enactors fired three volleys with their rifles, and the bugler played “Taps” to conclude the event.