Take it from one soldier who knows another soldier. “Chris Donahue now is on a long list of former XVIII Airborne Corps commanders,” Gen. (Ret.) Dan K. McNeill says in a military salute to Lt. Gen. Christopher Donahue, who on Dec. 6 left his command at Fort Liberty to become commander of the U.S. Army Europe-Africa. “Lindsay, Foss, Stiner, Luck, Shelton, Kernan are but a few of those who commanded the men and women of Sky Dragons in peace and in combat,” McNeill says about the late James J. Lindsay (1984-1986), John W. Foss (1986-1988), Carl W. Stiner (1988-1990), Gary E. Luck (1990), Hugh Shelton (1993-1996) and William Kernan (1998-2000). “And for sure, those former leaders were good at their work. CD, like several of those formers, has commanded the force through a number of non-combatant evacuation operations, deployments for deterrence operations against tyrants and stateless actors, humanitarian actions and disaster relief. For those who closely have observed CD as he led the XVIII Airborne, they agree he is one of the best. He is innovative. XVIII Airborne Corps long will benefit from the processes and systems CD has put into place. He is fearless in tough situations. He is a leader who makes the ones he leads perform confidently at superhuman levels. He has the ability to see through the fog of war and the confusion of complex operations against a determined opponent to determine the best way to compel the capitulation of that opponent.” McNeill is the four-star general who grew up in Duplin County and commanded the 82nd Airborne Division, the XVIII Airborne Corps, the U.S. Army Forces Command, the Coalition Forces, Afghanistan from 2002 to 2003 and the U.S. Army Forces Command from 2004 to 2007 before retiring from a 40-year military career on July 31, 2008.
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University of North Carolina athletics has kicked this one beyond Kenan Stadium toward the Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower, according to published reports, in bringing National Football League coaching legend Bill Belichick, 72, as the Tar Heels’ football coach to succeed ousted Mack Brown, and where you can be assured there will be no empty stadium seats when UNC opens its 2025 season against Texas Christian University on Aug. 25. Belichick has eight Super Bowl rings, including six as head coach with the New England Patriots in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018, and two as defensive coordinator with the New York Giants.
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Cumberland County Schools Superintendent Marvin Connelly, 61, says he’ll retire in July 2025. If the Board of Education under Deanna Jones, Judy Musgrave, Greg West, Susan Williams, Jackie Warner, Jacquelyn Brown, Mary Hales, Delores Bell and Terra Jordan is smart, no need to look far for Connelly’s successor. Lindsay Whitley is an assistant superintendent at Central Services right under their noses, and there are other assistant superintendents there, too.
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Bernadette Bogertey-Harvey, aka “The Bicycle Lady,” is looking for community elves to assure that underprivileged children receive a bicycle or tricycle for Christmas. While Bogertey-Harvey says more than 1,000 bicycles were given away at the Dec. 7 give-a-way at the 786 Blue Street warehouse, there were some issues that prevented the program from accommodating every child. “We need tricycles and bikes with training wheels size 12, 14 and 16 inches,” Bogertey-Harvey says, “and regular bikes 20 and 24 inches.” Bogertey-Harvey carries on “The Bicycle Man,” benevolence (circa 1990) started by the late Moses Mathis in his Tiffany Pines neighborhood. Call (910) 745-8008 if you wish to be an elf and put a smile on a kid’s face this holiday season.
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Here comes Santa and Mrs. Santa as part of the 25th annual Fayetteville Rotary Club and Rotary International Christmas Parade scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday from the Judge Maurice Braswell Cumberland County Courthouse to the Amtrak railroad station along Hay Street. Look for plenty of marching bands, floats, queens, holiday characters and Santa and Mrs. Claus. Matt Smith and the late Johnson Chestnutt are local Rotarians who deserve much credit for bringing back the downtown parade 25 years ago.
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Richard Fisher, owner of a 1937 Chevrolet coupe, and Melvin Montes-Ortiz, owner of a 1952 Chevrolet 3100 truck, were the “Peoples’ Choice” winners at the fourth annual Fayetteville Area Plumbing Contractors Association (circa 1955) Classic Car-Truck Show held Nov. 16 at Highland Village Shopping Center. The fundraiser, according to local plumbing contractors Billy Cain and Danny Hall, benefits charities such as the Child Advocacy Center, Fayetteville Urban Ministry, the Sandhills Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Alzheimer’s Society Eastern N.C. Chapter, the Fayetteville Animal Protection Society and the N.C. Disaster Association and plumbing scholarships for students enrolled at FTCC.
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“Bill, I can’t thank you enough for coming and speaking at the club with our members,” Mike McCaskill, president of the Massey Hill Lions Club, writes in an email about our Dec. 5 presentation on the state of local news. “Our members were as engaged with you than any other speakers’ event we’ve previously had. Community news is something that impacts each of us, and you get that. I harken back to a time that many in the community woke to the voice of Johnny Joyce and his ‘Around the Market House’ (radio) broadcast each day. Your written word has enriched this community in much the same way. Growing up in this community helped you capture the essence of those in the community in your stories. The questions you received reflected just how local news impacts the common person in Cumberland County. Well done to you for making Dec. 5 a conversation rather than a presentation.”
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“Bill, thanks for the article,” Parker Lindsay, a member of The Book Club, sends along in an email about The Kirby File’s Wednesday column on the club’s 130th anniversary tea held Dec. 5 at Highland Presbyterian Church. “A correction on the photo of Gillie Revelle. That is Carolyn Dawson seated and Gillie standing behind. Thanks again.” Hmmm … wondering if someone spiked my tea with some holiday spirits. Thank you, Mrs. Lindsay, for correcting the error of my way.
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Evidence is mounting, according to published reports, linking 26-year-old Luigi Mangione to the Dec. 4 early morning shooting death of Brian Thompson, 50, as the United Health Care chief executive officer walked to a company investors conference in Midtown Manhattan. The alleged shooter, who has been charged with murder, reportedly has harbored an ongoing disdain for health insurance companies that deny health insurance policy claims. While Mangione, by some social media accounts, is being hailed as a “vigilante for justice,” there’s a bottom line here: you don’t kill someone because you disagree with them. A father of two teenagers is dead, and while the alleged shooter is innocent until proven otherwise, life for Luigi Mangione appears bleak at best as a senseless homicide unravels.
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Residents of western North Carolina still are recovering from Hurricane Helene, and Fayetteville Technical Community College is doing its part to help by collecting high-need items. “The news doesn’t fully capture the reality that folks in the west are facing,” says Mark Sorrells, FTCC’s president and a native of western North Carolina, in a news release. “Blue Ridge Community College’s faculty, staff and students, along with residents of Henderson and Transylvania counties, have suffered tremendous loss yet are resiliently working to rebuild. Together, with other N.C. community colleges in our region, we can help them recover and renew their communities.” Donations are being accepted through 5 p.m. on Dec. 16, the release says, at FTCC’s Property Control & Services Department, 245 Dever St., when a tractor-trailer truck used in FTCC’s Commercial Driver’s License program, will set out for western North Carolina with collected items from FTCC, Bladen County Community College and Robeson County Community College. If you wish to help, FTCC says there is a need for laundry detergent, trash bags, sponges, disposable cleaning rags, brooms, mops, dishwasher detergent, new blankets, new coats, new socks, new underclothing, feminine hygiene products, Band-Aids, First aid cream, flashlights and batteries, portable propane heaters, such as “Buddy” heaters by Mr. Heater, children’s toys and school supplies to include notebooks and pens. Visit the Blue Ridge Community College Educational Foundation website if you wish to make a financial donation.
Coming Sunday: “First and foremost, I’m a cop.”
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
We’re in our third year of CityView Today, and so many of you have been with us from day one in our efforts to bring the news of the city, county, community and Cape Fear region each day. We’re here with a purpose — to deliver the news that matters to you.’’