HIGH POINT â Families and friends of retired and active veterans gathered Saturday at the Heroes Center in observation of Military Appreciation Day. Brigadier Gen. James R. Gorham, a retired veteran and the first Black officer to become a general in the N.C. National Guard, shared his personal experiences and lifted up the cause of homeless veterans. âThereâs a lot of veterans out there who are suffering for various reasons,â Gorham said. âSome of us have lost hope, but Iâm here to give an encouraging word to who might want to receive it today.â Gorham shared his story of growing up as a sharecropperâs son in a family of 11 in eastern North Carolina. After joining the military, Gorham resolved to climb 13 miles to the top of Pikes Peak when he was sent to Colorado Springs, Colorado. His efforts to get higher-ranking officers to join him on that quest failed. Four entry-level soldiers â two men and two women â took the challenge and agreed to climb the mountain. They experienced lightning and blizzard conditions once they reached the clouds near the mountaintop, and relied on three other climbers they had met along the way, who supplied toboggans, gloves and other cold-weather provisions.