Military veterans and their sacrifices to protect their country will be remembered Saturday during the third annual Veterans Memorial program in Carthage.

Dr. Ted Mataxis, retired from the U.S. Army Special Forces, will be the keynote speaker for the program to begin at 10 a.m. at the Moore County Veterans Memorial. Now in civilian life, he is administrator for technology and career education with the Moore County Schools.

The program will feature music by the Union Pines High School Band and the U.S. Navy ROTC with the New Century choir. Twenty-one doves, replacing the traditional 21-gun salute, will be released to honor the veterans.

The memorial is in the Carriage Oaks complex off U.S. 15-501 near the intersection with N.C. 24-27 in Carthage.

The names of 103 veterans have been added to the tablets erected at the memorial, bringing the total to 7,303 men and women who are natives of Moore County, residents or former residents and friends of the county. The monument also honors 162 veterans who were killed in action.

"Our memorial recognizes the sacrifices of all the veterans of Moore County with an emphasis on those who have been killed in action throughout the years," said Veterans Service Officer George Hunt in a report to the Board of Commissioners this week.

Hunt said daily visitors stop at the memorial to remember a family member or friend.

Raymond Doby, chairman of the Veterans Memorial Committee, will welcome the gathering, and Hunt will preside.

This is the third year that the committee has staged a Veterans Day holiday at the memorial. The program is held on the Saturday closest to the Nov. 11 national observance.

Hunt said there are about 5,000 veterans who qualify for the honor, but whose names are not engraved on the tablets. He expressed the hope that funds can be provided to add those names.

The names are inscribed on a series of tablets erected at the memorial, which is centered by a granite marker bearing the emblems of the five military branches and topped by an American eagle. Three flags guard the site. The official POW/MIA flag joins the American flag and the flag of North Carolina.

The 103 new names were inscribed on the 21st tablet, with room for additional names.

The names of the 162 killed-in-action veterans are inscribed on two 3,000-pound black granite slabs.

Moore County donated land for the monument, located near the complex housing several county agencies. The county continues to maintain the site.

Funds to build the monument were raised by individual and corporate donations. The names of the killed-in-action veterans were inscribed without charge, but a $30 fee is charged for the name of each veteran named at the monument. Names may be added for living veterans, as well as for those who have died since serving their country.

The program is administered by the Moore County Veterans Service office, and anyone wishing to add a name can call that office at 947-3257.

Contact Florence Gilkeson at 947-4962 or by e-mail florence@thepilot.com.