[gentle orchestral fanfare]

♪

[resonant strings lead
building orchestration]

(male narrator)
Welcome to Our State ,

a production of UNC-TV

in association
with Our State magazine--

for over 75 years

bringing readers
the wonders of North Carolina.

On this edition...

B represents
Battery B.

(narrator)
...we'll meet Fred Johnson
of Wilmington,

whose ancestors
fought in the Civil War

and who works tirelessly
to honor their service.

And we'll watch Trevor Thomas
take the trek of a lifetime

against almost
impossible odds.

Once I decided
I was gonna do it,

there was gonna be no way
on earth that I wouldn't go

and, number two,
that I would quit.

[woodwind score concludes]

♪

[gentle piano melody]

(male announcer)
Since 1872,

BB&T has been supporting
the people and communities

of North Carolina.

From our small-town roots

to the banking network
you see today,

we've always been here
for all our clients,

stretching from Manteo...
to Murphy.

We're proud of our heritage

as the oldest bank
in North Carolina,

and we're very proud
to provide funding

for Our State .

♪

Quality public television
is made possible

through the financial
contributions

of viewers like you,

who invite you to join them
in supporting UNC-TV.

[somber
pi

ano
me

lody]

♪

[gunfire ringing]

♪

[rustling]

♪

[gunfire continues]

(narrator)
Here in the quiet pinewoods

south and east
of downtown Wilmington,

a battle was fought
nearly 150 years ago,

a battle that turned the tide
of the Civil War

in favor of the Union.

[gunfire ringing]

[snare drum introduces
sustained strings]

Fort Fisher had fallen

after a huge, sustained
bombardment from the sea.

The fort guarded access
to Wilmington to the north,

the last Confederate city
open to trade.

Eventually, defenders
south and west of Wilmington

were forced to retreat

and chose to make their
last stand here at Forks Road.

Although outnumbered
three to one,

the Confederates
nearly wiped out

the first assault
by Union troops,

but they could not hold
and had to abandon Wilmington.

♪

Obscured in the smoke
of battle

and largely lost
to the times

was an astonishing fact.

The wave of Union troops

who first assaulted
the Confederate earthworks,

the troops who had done
most of the fighting

on the east side of the river,
were colored soldiers.

♪

(man)
There were more than 179,000
African Americans who fought

for the United States
military, um.

Here, there were
two brigades of, uh,

United States Colored Troops,

comprising about 3,300 men.

One brigade was, uh,

principally
the combatant unit here--

1st, 5th, 10th, 27th,
and 37th U.S. Colored Troops,

and about 50 of them
were casualties here.

[gentle piano melody]

(narrator)
The Battle of Forks Road
was small

as Civil War combat went,
despite its significance,

and it was little noted
as the war came to a close.

In time, Wilmington
got back to business

and grew into the city
that it is today

while the battlefield
slumbered beneath the pines.

(Fonvielle)
I got very interested
in the site.

We were able, through
archaeological surveys,

prove that there was,
indeed, a battle here,

but there was not much, uh,

known about the battle
through documentation.

And so I started un--
you know,

turning over every stone
that I could find,

looking
in the official records,

newspaper articles,
regimental histories,

and didn't find much,

but I found enough to prove,
uh, that, uh, indeed,

this is where the Confederates
made their last stand

and that the principal
Union combatants

were United States
Colored Troops.

United States Colored Troops
fought in 39 major battles,

and they fought
in over 400 minor skirmishes

and other smaller battles,

but this particular one here
in, uh, Forks Road

is important
because the majority

of the federal troops, uh,
were USCTs.

Coming up from, uh,
Fort Fisher,

this was the next stop

before the fall
of Wilmington,

and Wilmington,
of course,

was a major, uh, asset
to the Confederacy

in keeping
their supply line open.

So the fact that the, uh,

USCT were victorious
here at Forks Road

is a very important part
of our history.

[cannon fire resounding]

And I must honestly say that,
within the black community,

the stigma of the Civil War
still runs deep.

It still runs deep.

I've been a reenactor
for over, uh, ten years,

and a friend of mine
came to me some years ago

and said they had a traveling
Underground Railroad show

and they needed some blacks
to portray the slaves.

And I told him,
I said, uh,

"I'm not--I don't--I'm not
portraying slaves this week."

You know, it's--"I'm not
doin' slaves," just honestly.

And after I hung up
and I thought about it,

and I said, uh,
I could be a soldier,

but I couldn't be a slave.

(narrator)
Every February,
the patch of Wilmington woods

that was the battlefield

is transformed
into a Civil War encampment

with all the accoutrements
one would expect of the era,

Confederate and Union.

[easy banjo and bass tune]

♪

[clanking]

(man)
This is my tent here,

and I have all the equipment
that goes along with it.

Every--every person
has their own equipment,

and we come out,
and we just have a good time.

(narrator)
Fred Johnson
is tightly woven

into the fabric
of Forks Road.

(Fonvielle)
He is so active

in the historical community,
uh, around Wilmington

and has done so much to, uh,

not only investigate
but further interest

in the role
of African Americans

during the Civil War, uh.

He is an active participant
in Civil War reenactments,

serving on an artillery crew,

but he goes around
to local schools, uh,

and portrays, uh,
an African-American soldier,

dressing out in uniform,

even going so far
as to make hardtack,

which was kind of
a staple among, uh,

Civil War soldiers
for eating--

it's like a hard biscuit--

and, uh, encouraging students,
uh, black and white

to take a greater interest
in their--in their past.

So have a good trip;
I hope you learned
somethin'.

(group)
Thank you.

So anyhow, I asked
this one young girl

that was in this class,
"How would you like

to have eaten hardtack
all the time?"

She says,
"I wouldn't."

I said,
"What would you have did?"

"I'd go
to Burger King."

[group laughing]

(narrator)
Fred is full of stories,
like the one

about how the shoes
Civil War soldiers wore

didn't come
in lefts and rights.

The reason bein',
they only had to make one shoe.

They didn't have
to make a left or right.

If I were to get shot,
fall dead,

you come by and see my shoe
was better than yours--

your left shoe
or right shoe--

you'd put my shoe on
and wear it.

(narrator)
For Sergeant Johnson,
Battery B 2nd Regiment

United States Colored Troops

and a 79-year-old veteran
of the Korean War,

Forks Road and the Civil War
run deep in his blood.

Fred's roots
are in Pennsylvania,

and two of his ancestors
fought with the USCTS.

I learned that
my great-great grandfather,

Peter Quomony, he was
with the 3rd U.S. Infantry,

his brother, Abraham Quomony,

with the 24th USCT Infantry,

and then I did learn later on,

they had a brother-in-law,
Edward Ford,

with the 25th USCT Infantry.

(narrator)
The first day
of this year's reenactment

dawns gray and chilly,
and the camp awakens slowly.

Reenactors are sticklers
for detail,

sharing a cup of morning brew

made right here in the field,

practicing formations
and skirmish lines...

(man, distantly)
Ready, aim, fire!

[gunfire ringing]

(narrator)
...and even drawing
soldier's pay.

Hey, have you boys
been paid?

(group shouting)
Hip, hip, hooray!

Hip, hip, hooray!

(narrator)
But what of the real men
who fought and died here,

many of whom rest
in unmarked graves,

the U.S. Colored troops--

who remembers them?

The answer,
of course, is Fred

and other USCT reenactors.

[woman singing
"The Star Spangled Banner"]

Later in the spring, they don
their uniforms one more time

for some long-overdue
formal recognition

of soldiers who fought here
in the Battle of Forks Road

and were buried

in Wilmington's
National Cemetery.

(Fonvielle)
And they really have not
gotten the due recognition

that they deserved,

and Fred Johnson
applied for and, uh,

a highway historical marker
has been approved,

and that will be erected
sometime this spring.

So, uh, Mr. Johnson, uh,
is, again,

as an African American,

in the vanguard
of our Civil War history.

(narrator)
It took many trips to Raleigh

to meet with the state
archives and history division

and long talks with the
Wilmington National Cemetery,

but he got it done.

Just like Fred's
great-great-grandfather

who walked from Florida
to Pennsylvania after the war

to return to his family,

Fred persevered.

And thanks largely
to his efforts,

a highway marker now informs
the thousands of people

who drive by this cemetery

that brave men
of all colors rest here.

(Johnson)
Today's event centered
around the many tombstones

that are
in the National Cemetery

that have never been given
any type of recognition.

As the mayor stated today,

thousands of people drive
up and down Market Street.

They never know.

Why did it take so long?

No one made any effort
or had an interest to step up

and start to do somethin'.

Well, I did; I'm very proud
and happy that I did.

[fading trumpet note]

[sparse
pi

ano melody]

♪

(narrator)
Life's trails
are filled with surprises.

♪

The more interesting
and memorable ones

offer twists and turns
to negotiate

and steep summits to climb...

sometimes after you think

you've found
your footing at last.

Do you wanna hike
in the rain?

I don't care--
either way.

Thank you
again.

(narrator)
But it's the most challenging
of life's trails

that play forever
in your mind,

the ones that both frustrate
and enliven your journey

in undreamed-of ways.

Just ask Trevor Thomas.

(Trevor)
Yeah, 2004
was a good year for me--

got out of law school.

I was going to go into
the JAG Corps with the Navy.

The only thing I had to do
was take a physical,

which included an eye test.

(narrator)
The news was shocking

and came out of nowhere.

(Trevor)
She said, "Glasses
are not gonna help you.

"I can't help you.

I would recommend highly
that you go see a specialist."

He said it could be central
serous chorioretinopathy.

He said, "but not like
anything I'd ever seen.

Twenty-five percent
of my eyesight, one week,

gone just like that.

(narrator)
And soon, probably gone
entirely...with no cure.

(Trevor)
I never met a blind person.

I certainly didn't ever
envision myself being blind.

God knows, I didn't know
how to exist as a blind person.

First two or three years,

as he was realizing

that blindness had occurred,

uh, one, we didn't know
what to expect at all.

I'm not sure
he knew what to expect,

but it was
pretty harrowing.

I did not want
to leave my house.

I didn't even
know how I was going to get

to the mailbox
without getting hurt.

You know, in my eyes,
you know, life--

life was over.

So then you gotta
figure out,

am I just gonna
curl up and die

or am I gonna just,
"OK, what am I gonna do?"

One friend called and said,
"You are going out,

and we're gonna go see
a blind guy speak."

The same problems I had
and I was going through,

he'd already gone through,

so I instantly
could identify with him.

Turned out to be
a very, very monumental point

in my life.

[piano chords rise]

Well, uh,
he climbed Everest.

If this guy can climb Everest
and he's blind,

why can't I do
whatever it is

that I wanna do
in life?

It was like a catharsis;
it really was.

[door squeaking]

(woman)
He realized at that moment
that he could be

a blind person
that could do something

other than sit on the sofa
and do nothing.

(narrator)
With the help of an orient
and mobility instructor,

Trevor took
those critical first steps.

(Trevor)
The first time was terrifying.

[traffic noise]

[resonant arrangement]

She would make me
go up and down the streets

all around
in the neighborhood.

You push that comfort zone
a little bit.

Then you push it again,
and then again and again.

I've done
so many miles hiking.

I know by the speed
that I'm walking

and time basically tell me
how far I've gone,

and how far I've gone
will get me to markers

and let me know
where to turn

to go different places--
down the street,

up the hill,
turn right,

then turn left,
then walk down that street,

and the minute
we hit the greenway,

it was freedom.

(narrator)
A Charlotte greenway

was Trevor's ticket
to a future

he couldn't have imagined
at that time.

(Trevor)
There's not a day
that I don't go out

and hit the greenway
for either training,

enjoyment,
or for transportation.

(narrator)
Trevor's home away from home

often meant
20 to 25 miles a day

of disciplined effort.

(Elizabeth)
He had to find something
that worked for him,

and the hiking was, you know,
what was the answer.

(narrator)
But not just any hike.

Trevor decided
to take on the big one,

the Appalachian Trail,
end to end,

all 2,175 miles of it,

from Georgia to Maine,
through 14 states.

I do think my parents
wanted to have me committed.

And I said, "You didn't
join the Boy Scouts.

"You didn't--
you never camped in your--

never did any of that."

Yeah, I thought
he lost his mind

and his eyesight
all in the same pipe, yep.

Once I decided, there was
gonna be no way on earth

that number one,
I wouldn't go

and number two,
that I would quit.

We still didn't
really think

he was going
to go.

(narrator)
A thru-hike
of the entire trail

typically takes
five to seven months.

It's best to start
in Georgia in the spring

and walk north to Maine,
following the warm weather

up the spine
of the Appalachians.

(Trevor)
When it became real
that I was gonna go,

my sister was the only one
that would take me.

(Elizabeth)
I watched him as he went,

and I thought, "OK Trev, this
is your one and only chance

to show that you
can do this."

Part of me was like, you know,
as much gumption as he had,

yeah, he could do it,

but then the other part of me
was thinking,

"Oh my gosh, you know,
have I just sent him off

in the sunset
to come home in a pine box?"

[harp introduces
bright droning]

(narrator)
D-day was April 6, 2008,

and the way
Trevor figured it,

it would work
to ask other hikers

if they would trust
having a blind guy

tag after them.

(Trevor)
The first 24 groups of people

that I asked,
absolutely not.

Most people did not want
to be responsible

for getting
the blind guy killed.

(narrator)
Finally, a hiker named Kevin
took up his challenge,

and they were off,
much like you see Trevor here

following his friend Dave.

But like any new venture,

there were
some learning experiences.

[resonant arrangement]

(Trevor)
The AT is a very rugged trail.

It was nowhere close
to the greenway,

which is where
I got all my practice.

We had to figure out a way
for me not to get killed.

We figured out
if he tapped on rocks...

All right, rocks
there to your left.

(Trevor)
...then I would know
they were there.

We got better
and better and better.

(Dave)
Uh, we have a little blowdown,

but it's
notched out.

(Trevor)
All right.

I got quicker
and quicker and quicker...

and hence started falling
less and less and less.

(Dave)
All right, watch
the rhodies on eye level.

(Trevor)
It's not true
that when you lose

one of your senses,
your other senses get better.

(Dave)
All right, first step.

(Trevor)
They don't.

(Dave)
Go right--a little wobbly.

(Trevor)
You become more aware,

and you pay attention
to your other senses more.

My sense of touch--
I'm a very tactile person now.

I have noticed
that the feeling,

ironically enough, in my feet
has become much more acute.

I need to be able to feel
the subtle gradient on a trail

to make sure
that I'm on it.

(narrator)
Inevitably, Trevor
and his first hiking partner

had to part company.

(Trevor)
We made it seven days

before he had to leave
and go on.

I figured I'd just stop.

I'd sit down,
and I'd wait.

The great thing about the AT
is there are

thousands of people
that do it every year.

So you meet a lot of people
along the way.

(narrator)
And Trevor was fortunate

to find fresh hiking partners
willing to take him on.

(Trevor)
They said, "Come with us,"

and it went
on and on like that.

Groups would form;
people would get off.

(narrator)
In the beginning,
trusting others to help him

along life's way
was difficult...

(Dave)
We have some steps here.

(narrator)
...on and off the trail.

Step up
and then go left.

(Elizabeth)
He always had the position

that it was "trust no one"
except for family members,

and the most ironic thing is,
now with his blindness,

he's gotta trust people.

He's gotta trust
total strangers,

and that's been
a turning point for him

'cause he's
never been like that.

So now he trusts
a lot of people,

which has made
a big difference in his life.

(narrator)
It's common for hikers
to take on a trail name,

an easy way
to personalize your trek

and to remember others
you meet along the way.

On the trail,
Trevor is known as Zero,

after zero-zero,

a rock climbing term
for zero visibility.

(man)
All right, Butterfly;
let's roll.

(woman)
I heard about the blind guy
on the trail,

and it was funny
because I got to a shelter.

I heard somebody,
and it was Zero.

He'd been there
for like a day and a half,

waitin' for somebody he knew
to come along.

Switchback
comin' up.

(Sherry)
We hiked together
for 3 1/2 days.

He's got the hiking poles, and
everybody else has as well,

so it's like he doesn't
feel any different.

People can't tell
he's blind.

[resonant droning]

He'll tell me sometimes,

he just feels like
this is his element out here.

♪

(narrator)
The trail has over 250
shelters and campsites.

Shelters are spaced
about a day's hike apart.

[guitar melody leads]

Zero's daily objective
was simple--

reach a trail shelter
every night...

[running water]

(Trevor)
Sounds like good flow.

(narrator)
...and find water.

♪

And if things work out well,

on the days
he really needed one,

Zero would find
a new hiking partner

and let family know
where he was

via a GPS spot locator.

♪

Anybody's who ever been hiking
in unfamiliar territory,

even for an afternoon,

can recall
the heart-pounding feeling

that can come with being alone
in the wilderness.

(Trevor)
It's one thing to be alone

and a little bit freaked out
in the backcountry

when you're by yourself
in the daytime,

but when it turns to night
and you're by yourself...

[pronounced breathing]

is very, very unnerving.

You sit and you wait
for the day to come.

I mean,
you're just praying for,

when am I gonna feel
that light on my face?

[guitar introduces
echoing arrangement]

♪

(Dave)
All right, we're comin' down.

Sun's feelin' good.

This is a shot
that I need for my camera,

with the dew
on trees.

(Trevor)
Yeah?

What about it?

Oh, it's the sun
shootin' through,

and all that dew
that we had last night.

(Trevor)
Oh, so it's, like, sparkly?

(Dave)
Like a Christmas tree.

(Trevor)
Nice.

♪

(narrator)
This is a story
of a man transformed

who has learned
to step out of self,

and, in turn, inspire others.

(Trevor)
The amazing thing was--

is that I was doing
the AT for myself.

Wow, it's so nice
to meet you.

(Trevor)
Just the--
the vast number of people

that came up to me
and said,

"What you're doing
is amazing."

And they're like,
"No, you inspire me."

My name
is Zero.

You're
the blind guy.

I've heard
of you.

Oh, thanks.

So, I'm, uh,
really impressed.

(Trevor)
Knowing that by me walking
was inspiring people

to do things
was just really cool.

And I was like, wow,

maybe I can make
a difference doing this.

(Elizabeth)
He kept going
and going and going,

and I thought,
"I'll be darned,

my brother's gonna do this;
I can't believe it."

(narrator)
There's hiking,

and there's the grueling
100-Mile Wilderness

from Monson, Maine,
to Mount Katahdin,

the last leg
of the Appalachian Trail.

(Trevor)
And they even
have this gigantic sign

before you enter that says,

"If you do not have at least
ten days of food on you,

don't enter,
because there is no out."

(narrator)
And then there was Kyle,

the remnants
of a late-season hurricane

that brought
enough weather misery

to nearly get
the best of him.

(Trevor)
I'd almost drowned myself.

I was freezing,
and I was in a shelter,

and I was alone.

The only thing that saved me
was I heard people.

They hiked pretty much all
night so they could catch up

and make sure that I was able
to complete my trek.

(narrator)
But they had not yet reached

their ultimate goal,
Mount Katahdin,

because
the National Park Service

had closed the trail,
sidelining hikers for a week.

When the weather
finally broke,

Zero headed out
toward his goal

and had plenty of company.

(Trevor)
There were more hikers
on that day, October 8th,

that stood on top
of that mountain

than has ever stood
on top of the mountain ever.

All these people
are making

as much noise
as they possibly can

'cause they're excited
and number two,

'cause they know
I'm listening

so I can get up
the rest of the hill.

Just being able to share that
with so many people

that you've shared
so much with,

it was utterly surreal.

(narrator)
Six months, two days

and over 2,000 miles--

Zero had beat the odds--
his own.

[warm orchestration concludes]

♪

(Trevor)
I'm not encouraging everybody

who's losing their sight

to run out and do
the Appalachian Trail.

That was something
that I chose to do for myself.

What I want people
to take away from it--

sure, there are
gonna be things

you can't do any longer,
so let 'em go.

Find what it is
that is your passion,

whether you think
you can do it or not,

and just go out and try.

Everybody has
their own summit.

[resonant guitar melody]

(Trevor)
Hey Dave?

Say somethin' else.

(Trevor)
People take photographs.

Well, I have those,
but they don't do me any good.

♪

Every time I get
to the summit of anything,

I pick up a rock or two rocks
and put 'em in my pocket.

That way, when I get home,
I can lay my rocks out,

and I can feel the rocks.

I remember
just like if you,

say, would
look at a photo.

♪

[traffic noise]

I just navigated
2,175 miles.

I'm out there doing things

that 99% of the population
wouldn't even consider doing.

What to most people
would seem to be the mundane,

is a great deal
of challenge for me--

being alone and going
to the grocery store.

I'm Trevor.

I'm Carol;
good to meet you.

(Trevor)
I need to do
a little shopping.

No worries.

(voice-over)
I can't see the boxes.

And it's a good one?

(voice-over)
I can't see the cans.

It's a reality check.

[cart clacking]

[sparse piano melody]

♪

That's going to do
it for produce,

but thank you
very much.

One thing that was
most detrimental to me,

and I listened to it
for a while--

as my vision grew worse,

there was the increased
societal expectations

on me being able
to do less and less.

I gained weight
on the trail last time.

(Elizabeth)
You were kind of skinny.

(Judith)
You were really skinny,
I thought.

(Trevor)
I realized that, no,

I can do whatever I want to
because I know I can.

What's in the future?

I'm doin'
a lot more hiking.

[guitar chord
introduces resonant droning]

(Trevor)
OK.

♪

[gentle piano composition]

♪

Fire!

♪

It's kinda cool
in the mist.

(cameraman)
I--I can't shoot
through this.

It's gonna look bad.

(man)
It's starting to let up.

[guitar introduces
easy arrangement]

♪

Ahh!
Hah, hah, hah!

I'm sittin' there
trying not to be
shiverin'.

♪

You're almost
at the top.

♪

(man)
You guys are standin'
in Tennessee right now.

If you keep going ten feet,
you'll be in North Carolina.

(Trevor)
Ah, cool-- all right,
we're goin' to North Carolina.

We'll see you
in another state.

Captioning by Caption Perfect
www.CaptionPerfect.com

(man)
How y'all doing out there?

Doing well--
that's quite a bit

of video equipment
to be hikin' with.

(man)
Throw this thing
off the mountain.

Say
something,
please.

Somethin'.

OK.

[grunting]

(announcer)
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[strings support
gentle piano melody]

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We've been in business
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We're proud
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and we're also very proud

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♪

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