12/17/2023 0 Comments Andy griffith grave![]() “Howard Hull and Billy McCraw must have spent two months out there pulling up stumps and taking down tress, they did a lot of work, for nothing,” he said. He deeded the property to Veteran’s Park in Mount Airy, and then went on a fundraising tour of the community, getting monetary donations from many, as well as a tremendous amount of donated labor and material. When Holder started the project, in 2012, he had little more than the land available - and that was covered with trees and stumps. In addition to the burial plots, there is a columbarium on the grounds - a small structure where the ashes of those who have been cremated can be interred. After attending the funeral of his friend, he realized the best use of the plot was to create the cemetery there, where those who have served the nation can be laid to rest without cost, a courtesy extended to their spouses as well. The 1-1/2 acre burial ground next to Antioch Baptist Church was part of his farm, but had been divided from the rest of his land because of some rights-of-way changes. “There wasn’t anything like that around here,” he said recently, adding he is not aware of any other privately managed veteran’s cemeteries in North Carolina. Holder, an Air Force veteran who served from July 1951 through July 1973, said he attended that Delaware funeral for the wife of his best friend, and saw that she was laid to rest in a cemetery dedicated to veterans and their spouses. Now, that cemetery stands as a final resting place for more than a dozen men who have served in the U.S. More than a decade ago, a trip to Delaware for a funeral planted an idea inside Don Holder - to develop a local cemetery just for veterans and their spouses.
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