I live about 20 miles south/southwest of Wilmington, the last southern port to fall in the Civil War.
My mother’s first cousin, Jack Wells, in addition to having served as a Green Beret, was an amateur archaeologist and a professional diver who was personally responsible for discovering many of the Civil War artefacts now on display in the Ft. Fisher museum (Ft. Fisher was a Confederate fort that protected the approaches to Wilmington). I used to love visiting great Aunt Eva and Uncle Charles, because Jack lived with them until he got married, and his room was filled with all kinds of Civil War items, from old cannon balls to rifles to regimental flags. He did a couple of tours in Germany when he was in the Army, and had also assembled quite a collection of WWII memorabilia, including a few of those highly ornamental daggers that German officers wore (plus boxes of helmets, bayonets, ammo belts, etc. etc.).
God rest his soul.
