Category Archives: Announcement

Available now: A tribute to the 100 official Centennial World War I Memorials

On April 5, 2018, the 1918 Fort Caswell Rifle Range was officially designated one of 100 World War I Centennial Memorials in the United States.

The tribute to the one hundred official Centennial World War One Memorials is now available for purchase.

The Pritzker Military Museum & Library gift shop website describes the publication. The website may be used to purchase the book.

100 CITIES 100 MEMORIALS: RESTORATION, RECOGNITION & REMEMBRANCE is the first work to commemorate the 100 official national World War One memorials of the United States.

As selected by the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, Chicago, and the Congress-appointed World War I Centennial Commission, these diverse monuments mirror the depth and breadth of the stories of dedication, sacrifice, and heroism they reflect.

With more than 230 archival images, vintage posters, and contemporary and specially commissioned photographs, this richly illustrated volume journeys from Hawaii to Maine, North Dakota to Florida, and Arizona to Illinois to celebrate the varied tributes formed of metal, stone, and memory.

Published to coincide with the fall 2024 installation of “A Soldier’s Journey” frieze at the National World War One Memorial at Pershing Park, Washington, D.C., 100 CITIES 100 MEMORIALS is much more than a picture book.

Through the powerful and personal stories it tells, this volume stands as a moving testament to those who answered the call of duty and shaped a pivotal era in American history.

The two page spread detailing the 1918 Fort Caswell Rifle Range Memorial was created from the proposal written by the Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range in 2017 to appeal for the honor.

The following sentence demonstrates the diverse group of individuals that joined in tribute to the Brunswick County WWI veterans.

“In 2011, a dedicated group of residents, including retirees, local politicians, journalists, artists, history and genealogy enthusiasts, professional engineers, attorneys, and leaders of other historic sites” began the work to save the historic structure.

The Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range nonprofit, now defunct, was established for this mission. What followed was countless hours and years planning and implementing fundraisers, commemorations, stabilization and restoration, and the research and historical research necessary. Notable accomplishments include:

Some members of the community and supporters of the mission are mentioned in the book. We thank them again for their support and involvement.

A quote by Jim McKee, Site Manager at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site, is included in the text detailing the rifle range restoration.

Dylan Phillips, editor of Brunswick Beacon, was listed in the image credits for his photo of the rifle range. The photo was also featured in the September 2023 Brunswick Beacon supplement, Hidden history in Caswell Beach (A supplement to the newspaper issue)

Christine Urick was listed in the image credits for her familiar photo of the South Brunswick High School JROTC members during the April 6, 2019, WWI Commemoration.

Note: The publication was based on the 2017 proposal for the WWI Commemoration project, written by the Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range. Some details have changed since, including the number of Brunswick County WWI veterans and nurses, and Jim McKee’s title.

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The 1918 Fort Caswell Rifle Range is 105 years old today

The 1918 Fort Caswell Rifle Range is 105 years old today.
MAY 20TH 1918

Date on south wall

On January 21, 1918, the United States War Department proposed the construction of a rifle range adjacent to Fort Caswell, NC, for small arms training of soldiers “in view of the immediate necessity for instruction of men destined for over-seas duty” in World War I.

Continue reading and view the documents in the History section of the website.

Thank you to those who have joined us in saving this relic of the United States’ involvement in World War I!

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The Brunswick County WWI Roll Call: Mission Complete

On Veterans Day in 2018, the Brunswick County World War I Monument was dedicated at the site of the 1918 Fort Caswell Rifle Range, a nationally designated World War I Centennial Memorial. The Roll Call began that day to honor the 718 men and one nurse from Brunswick County who served in World War I.

Five years have passed since the Roll Call began, the completion delayed by the pandemic.

On April 4, 2023, the mission of honoring all WWI veterans from Brunswick County was completed with the calling of the final group of names.

View the Brunswick County WWI Veteran Roll of Honor to discover the date each veteran was honored during a ceremony at the Fort Caswell Rifle Range.

To view more details about the veterans, view the complete Brunswick County WWI Veteran list.

Stay tuned for more information about the completed mission.

Photo above: Veteran Fred “Stan” Stanley reading the Roll Call on Veterans Day 2019. His grandfather, WWI Veteran Robert Bollie Stanley, was the only WWI POW from Brunswick County. His family was honored during the 2019 ceremony.

Photo courtesy of Phyllis Wilson.

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Our Second Newsletter

The second Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range newsletter was recently sent via email to supporters. While the intention was to distribute more frequent newsletters, illnesses caused delays.

Included in the newsletter:

  • The 1918 Fort Caswell Rifle Range is 105 years old on May 20, 2023. Without your support, it may not still exist today! Thank you!
  • The rifle range had a special cleaning, as shown above.
  • Updates on a few special friends.
  • Plans and future needs.
  • Updates on book sales and donations.
  • Items from our mailbox.
  • A short overview of the Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range (FFCRR), which traces back to 2011.
  • The membership campaign continues in 2023 to raise money to fulfill the FFCRR mission.

The newsletter may be downloaded here: Winter 2022-2023 FFCRR Newsletter

If you would like to be added to our newsletter email list, please send your email address to ftcaswellriflerange@gmail.com.

We apologize to anyone who did not receive the newsletter. The email address we have for you may be out of date or missing.

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November 14, 2022: The Veterans Day program has been rescheduled

The Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range has moved the Veterans Day event to Monday, November 14, 2022, due to the tropical storm Nicole. Same place, beside the rifle range at Caswell Beach, same time, at 11:00 am.

Park in condo parking lots, not on the grass, and bring a folding chair to sit on.

Thank you,
Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range Board Members

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Monitoring Tropical Storm Nicole

We’re monitoring the path of Tropical Storm Nicole and the changing weather forecast. A rain date for the Veterans Day program may be necessary.

Any announcement will be posted here and sent via email using our newsletter email lists.

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Our First Newsletter

The first Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range newsletter was recently sent via email to supporters. The plan is to publish a newsletter at regular intervals throughout the year to update our supporters.

Included in the newsletter:

  • Brief sections of the larger posts on the website from the past several months, such as Spotlights and Events.
  • Plans and future needs.
  • Updates on book sales and donations.
  • Items from our mailbox.
  • For the first time, a membership campaign to raise money to fulfill the FFCRR mission.

The newsletter may be downloaded here: Winter 2021-2022 FFCRR Newsletter

If you would like to be added to our newsletter email list, please send your email address to ftcaswellriflerange@gmail.com.

We apologize to anyone who did not receive the newsletter. The email address we have for you may be out of date or missing.

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Okey Tucker offers his services for the rifle range restoration

Okey measures the window before installing a plexiglass window.
The Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range is pleased to announce that Okey Tucker, a local consulting environmental engineer, has offered his professional services, pro bono, to rehabilitate the 1918 Fort Caswell Rifle Range.

Mr. Tucker was born and raised in West Virginia until 2019, when he moved full time to Oak Island. Okey and Andrea, his wife of 38 years, had vacationed on Oak Island over the years with their children Sarah and Okey III. They even celebrated their marriage on Oak Island.

Okey graduated with a BS in chemical engineering in 1983 from the WV Institute of Technology in Montgomery, WV. He was employed as an environmental engineer for the State of West Virginia. He currently serves as a consulting senior engineer working from home.

He was an assistant Boy Scout master when his son was growing up and now he and Andrea volunteer for the Caswell Beach Turtle Watch program. He also has a long history of experience in all aspects of home building and improvements.

The initial projects for the rifle range include the installation of a plexiglass window, step improvements for safely entering the rifle range, lowering of the shoring inside for ease of navigation, and a gate system designed for the safety of visitors and animals.

Okey’s plan for the future is to consult with The Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range and the State Historic Preservation Office concerning a roof system for the rifle pit’s Storage Room, located on the east end of the pit.

No Trespassing signs are positioned in various places around the rifle range property to protect and alert folks, especially children, that they are not to go into the property.

There is much more work to be completed. We welcome Okey Tucker and we thank him for helping to save the 1918 Fort Caswell Rifle Range!

Read the announcement about Okey in the Brunswick Beacon.

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Pausing the WWI Snapshots

The Friends of Fort Caswell is hitting the pause button on WWI Snapshots for now.

For several years, the primary focus has been WWI Profiles, WWI Snapshots, and writing the book, Brunswick County in the Great War, which is still available for purchase.

The primary focus will now return to the restoration of the 1918 Fort Caswell Rifle Range. Progress will be posted here on the website.

Read more about the past stabilization effort by clicking the Stabilization tab at the top of the website.

Fort Caswell WWI Nurse Faye White
Meanwhile, please view this wonderful presentation by Liz Fuller from the Southport Historical Society. Liz included some of the information about the Fort Caswell WWI nurses in her presentation:

Southport Nurses of WWI and the Spanish Flu. (click to view)

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WWI Snapshots have resumed

The first WWI Snapshots were posted on the blog in September 2019. These were created to preserve some of the valuable information obtained about the veterans.

WWI Profiles, on the other hand, were written primarily for those veterans who died or were wounded while in service. The profiles included many more details. Historical documents about their divisions were used to approximate the activity and location of their unit during their injuries or death. Grouping veterans in the same division resulted in a nearly complete description of their division from beginning to end.

The Published WWI Profiles webpage lists the links for all of the WWI Profiles and WWI Snapshots posted on the website and published in local newspapers.

Nearly all of the profiles and snapshots published on the blog through 2020 are included in our book published in 2020, Brunswick County in the Great War: Preserving the 1918 Fort Caswell Rifle Range and the Legacies of the Men and Women Who Served.

To order your own book, call or contact The Friends now as shown below (click to enlarge), or use the Purchase a Book link.

As readers may have noticed and the Published WWI Profiles webpage shows, WWI Snapshots resumed in January 2021. These snapshots were written after Brunswick County in the Great War was published. While continuing the focus on preserving unique information about Brunswick County’s WWI veterans, an additional focus is to honor those veterans who have not been honored with military headstones or flat markers or simply have no cemetery or gravesite identified.

Next week, Black History Month begins. Only those snapshots written for our Black WWI veterans will be posted during the month of February. There are many African American WWI veterans buried in graves that are no longer marked. Death certificates are used to identify the name of the cemetery.

Overall, we have many WWI veterans with no military honors displayed at their gravesite. You can identify them on the WWI Brunswick County Veteran list, which is also accessible by the blue button on the top right of the webpage. Those with two asterisks (**) after their date of death indicates that no military honors were found, and a question mark (?) indicates that no photo was found of their gravesite to confirm, or that their gravesite could not be located.

If anyone would like to share more information about a veteran for a snapshot, or contribute to the effort to identify the dates of death and cemetery locations, please contact the Friends of Fort Caswell Rifle Range. Thank you!

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