Join us on Monday, May 26th, 2025, for a poignant Memorial Day Ceremony at the Village Chapel of Bald Head Island. This event, hosted by the Village Chapel of Bald Head Island and the Old Baldy Foundation, is an opportunity to come together as a community to reflect, honor, and remember the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Keynote Speaker:

Captain Terry Bragg (US Navy - Retired), former Executive Director of the Battleship North Carolina

About Captain Terry Bragg

From 2008 - 2024, Captain Terry Bragg served as the executive director of the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial. Captain Bragg is a native of Jacksonville, NC, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University before continuing his graduate studies at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He spent 30 years in the United States Navy with posts in Key West, San Diego, Charleston, and Savannah, before arriving in Wilmington to head the state’s memorial to over 11,000 North Carolinians who made the ultimate sacrifice during WWII. Thanks to Captain Bragg’s visionary leadership, the Battleship North Carolina is better preserved and more protected for generations to come.

Under Captain Bragg’s leadership, a 1,909-foot permanent cofferdam was constructed in 2017 as an acceptable alternative to the routine drydocking required to support repairs and maintenance to the Battleship’s hull. As a result of the cofferdam, 1,800 square feet of wasted steel plating and framing were repaired in 2021. One year later, the State Employees Credit Union Memorial Walkway opened unparalleled views of the Battleship’s hull and marshlands of Eagles Island.

In 2018, the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial launched Living with Water, which seeks to mitigate the effects of flooding at the park caused by climate-driven rising sea levels. The project will re-naturalize parts of the existing parking lot, elevate remaining parking, and restore 800 linear feet of hardened shoreline to living shoreline. Collectively known as the Generations Campaign, these preservation projects during Captain Bragg’s tenure have raised $23 million in public and private funds.

Captain Bragg and his wife Phoebe are celebrated preservationists in the Wilmington Historic District as dedicated stewards of the 1884 Forshee-Sprunt House, which they’ve called home since 2009. Numerous awards have recognized Captain Bragg’s leadership, including the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, Wilmington Rotary Club’s Leaders in Service Award, and the Historic Wilmington Foundation’s Thomas & Elizabeth Wright Lifetime Achievement Award.