Thomas Evan Capshaw was born in Granite Falls, North Carolina in December 1930 to Janette and Lanys Gavin Capshaw.  He was one of five children and their only son.  When he was 11 years old, his father, who had been the mill superintendent, unexpectedly died.  This left his mother as the family's sole means of support.  While the years after his father died were challenging, he did well in school and was an accomplished athlete.  At Granite Falls High School, his nickname was "Tuffy" which he got from playing football and baseball.  He was not very large, but he was tough physically and had a reputation as a hardworking athlete who always hustled.  He was the football team's quarterback and punter and the first-string catcher throughout his high school  years.  Notwithstanding his success in high school, he left school at the age of 17 to join the U.S. Navy to help his mother support the family.

In the Navy, he was assigned to the Auxiliary Group of the Engineering Division.  It was here that he learned his love of engineering and his aptitude for it.  He served in the Navy from 1948 until 1953, which included two tours of duty during the Korean War and his crossing the equator where he graduated from being a "Pollywog" to being a "Shellback".  His Dress Navy Blues and Shellback card now reside in the Granite Falls Historical Association Museum.  Upon discharge from the Navy, the G.I. Bill enabled him to attend Capitol Radio and Engineer Institute (CREI), where he pursued his love of engineering.

The engineering degree he obtained from CREI set him on the road to a career that was, in his words, "an engineer's dream."  It included: helping develop a classified Infra-Red Detection system at McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, MO; heading up the engineering support team on the Submarine Warfare Simulator that was being built for the Navy at the Boca Chica Naval Air Station in Key West, FL; serving as the Project Manager at the Image Processing Lab at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, where he digitized pictures sent from the moon to determine the landing site for the first Apollo moon landing; working at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD on the design and development of the Tomcat, a supersonic fighter aircraft; and working at the Kennedy Space Flight Center in FL, where he first was in charge of Quality Control on the space shuttle lauch processing systsem and then responsible for all ground instrumentation relating to the shuttle program.  In 1982, he received the NASA Public Service Medal for his contribution to the space shuttle program.  Along the way, he took up flying as a hobby and became a scratch golfer.  He retired from Kennedy Space Flight Center in 1998.  In 2021, his name was inscribed on the Wall of Honor at the National Air and Space Museum outside of Washington , D. C.

In 1955, Tom married Barbara Gentle of Statesville.  During their 57-year marriage, they raised four daughters.  Notwithstanding his career success, Tom's greatest satisfaction was taking care of his family and providing for their needs until his death in 2012.  Tom and Barbara have been laid to rest together in Statesville along with his parents.

Carmen Icard Teague, MD was born to Joe and Carolyn Icard on November 20, 1969.  She grew up in Hudson, NC, where her father served as the mayor for many of her formative years and her mother taught school at Hudson Middle School.  She graduated from South Caldwell High School as valedictorian and then entered UNC-Chapel Hill on the prestiious Morehead-Cain Scholarship.

Prior to her medical career, Teague completed a Mster's Degree in Counseling from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and worked in Alzheimer's disese research at Duke University.  She then attended UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine and completed her residency at Carolinas Medical Center in Internal Medicine.  In June of 2004, she joined Mecklenburg Medial Group Uptown.
Her professional interests include women's health, diabetes management, and promoting psychological, spiritual and emotional health.  When Dr. Teague is not caring for patients at MMG she serves as the Director of Internal Medicine for Atrium Health Medical Group and teaches medical students as as Associate Professor of Medicine for the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

Dr. Teague will tell you, however, that her real job is a full-time Mom!  She is married to her high school sweetheart and they have four beautiful children:  Trilla Belle, Tattie Anne, Titus and Tyre.  The girls came by birth; the boys came by plane.  All four came from God's grace to her family!

She is an avid water-skier, triathlete, and CrossFit fanatic.  She enjoys spending time with her family and volunteering at her children's school, teaching character education.  At her church, she serves as Deacon and as a small group leader.  Sh is the author of Motherhood, Medicine & Mayhem:  A Doctor's Journey of Finding Calm in Chaos.  You can follow her through her blog called "Mommy Doc Madness" (www.carmen-teague.com) and her Facebook page ( carmenteagueauthor).  She enjoys sharing her story with professional and faith based organizations.

George W. Petrie, Jr. (June 21, 1939 - April 15, 2011), son of George William Petrie and Sally Martin Petrie, graduated from Lenoir High School in 1957.
It was said by fellow Green Berets that Hollywood could make movies of his battlefield exploits.  He enlisted in the Amy in 1958, rising from Private to the rank of Major, retiring in 1980.  His promotion to Commisioned Officer came as a Direct Commission in 1970 after battlefield leadership and heroics.

In 1967, he was named one of the Outstanding Young Men of America for his humanitarian mission to aid innocent victims and poverty-stricken civilians in the Dominican Republic.  

Honoring his leading role in the famed Vietnam Son Tay raid, Walter Cronkite interviewed George in Prime Time Broadcast on CBS in November 1970.

While his medals and commendations are too numerous to list in total, they include the Legion of Merit, two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars and Purple Heart.  In 2010, he was the only recipient of the Distinguished Member of the 1st Special Forces Regiment.

In 2007, he was awarded the highest honor of U.S. Special Forces, the Gold Order of Saint Philip Neri, which at that time, only nine soldiers in the entire history of Special Forces had received this award.

For the evacuation of Saigon, the General in charge, General Richard  Carey, and the U.S. Defense Department Attache', General Homer Smith requested that George Petrie be brought in for the planning and execution of 80,000 evacuees.

The chronicle of the Vietnam War, Valor in Vietnam, 1963-1977, by Allen B. Clark, of which the 2nd printing features George Petrie on the cover, dedicates two chapters to his leadership and battlefield exploits.

It is believed by many fellow Green Berets that he was the final Green Beret to evacuate from Saigon and the whole of Vietnam.