ASHEVILLE – Outside the doors of the Charles George Veterans Affairs Medical Center in East Asheville, a bronze statue of the hospital’s namesake was gleaming. It was the likeness of a young man, born in the Birdtown community of Cherokee, who fought and died in the Korean War, posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

In the days before a Nov. 11 Veterans Day Ceremony, hosted at the VA hospital, U.S. Army veteran Doug Morrow said he cleaned the statute himself.

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