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In Memory

 OUR DEAR FRIEND AND COMMANDER
COLONEL WAYNE KELLAM

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On Monday July 18, 2005 Colonel Wayne Kellam, family man, friend, leader and founder of the reactivated 22nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment was unexpectedly called home by the Lord. 
 
Anybody that knew Wayne knew he was a special man.  It was a special joy and privilege to be his friend and serve under his leadership. 
 
To know Colonel Kellam as a leader was to know that a true leader is truly a servant first...and to this end he served and gave without hesitation or measure.  He lead with seemingly endless patience but with an uncompromising honesty. 
 
To know Colonel Kellam as a friend was to know someone who cared deeply, who at once was a trusted friend, mentor, father and counselor of great wisdom.  And in his presence a good laugh and a  wink of the eye were always near at hand. 
 
In all things, more than anything else, Wayne Kellam was a Gentleman.
 
Wayne loved his Heritage and gave his heart and soul to the formation and building of the 22nd North Carolina Infantry. By doing this he honored his ancestors who gave their last full measure on the fields of Gettysburg and kept alive the memory of their sacrifice and by so doing helped instruct his fellow man on the costs of liberty, the virtues of valor and the importance of Honor, Duty and Country. 
 
A month before his passing it was fitting that for a final time Colonel Kellam would lead the 22nd in the ancestral fields of North Carolina with Colonel Tom Pettigrew, the direct descendant of General J. Johnston Pettigrew who originally formed the valiant 22nd North Carolina Infantry in 1861 for the War Between the States. 
 
Colonel,  you will be missed so very much but we know you will linger with us in Spirit, you will gently guide us with an unseen hand and you will continue to inspire us with the legacy of your example.  
 
We will always keep a chair empty for you under the shade of the fly.
 
Until that day we can all be together in Glory, our hearts are with you, we salute you sir.
 
God's speed dear friend.
 
---  Sergeant Major Tim Anderson
      22nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment

"In time, even death itself might be abolished; who knows but it may be given to us after this life to meet again in the old quarters, to play chess and draughts, to get up soon to answer the morning role call, to fall in at the tap of the drum for drill and dress parade, and again to hastily don our war gear while the monotonous patter of the long roll summons to battle.
 
Who knows but again the old flags, ragged and torn, snapping in the wind, may face each other and flutter, pursuing and pursued, while the cries of victory fill a summer day? And after the battle, then the slain and wounded will arise, and all will meet together under the two flags, all sound and well, and there will be talking and laughter and cheers, and all will say, Did it not seem real? Was it not as in the old days?"                
                      --Barry Benson, a Confederate Veteran writing in 1880.