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Feeling the Pain (Memorial Day, Chicago)

By Adam Navarro-Lowery

Dave Adams and Adam Navarro-Lowery at Memorial Day, Chicago

A few things stick out in my mind from that hot day in May. I remember it being a bit somber as veterans and veterans' supporters began congregating at the memorial site. I arrived not knowing any event was taking place, but nonetheless, I showed up wearing my BDU top, along with all of my badges and regalia that I earned during my term of service to our country. Other veterans filtered onto the site, wearing the same. We embraced one another, sharing our pain, allowing ourselves to be healed by touch and mutual understanding of what we had experienced while serving our great nation in the US military. I remember it clearly. I coincidentally ran into Dave Adams, who served with me at the 101st Airborne Division. We were friends there, and we always related to each other on many topics—mostly asking ourselves why we were there, taking orders from some sergeant who'd barely graduated high school (or did not, putting it as nicely as I can.) Dave and I froze for a moment as we looked into each other's eyes and then immediately embraced each other. We were shocked, mostly from the fact that we were just happy to see we were both alive and in one piece, and not killed or mangled. We stayed next to each other for the duration of the day.

Dave and I always seemed to share the same sentiments. Perhaps it was because we came from similar backgrounds, were from major US cities (Chicago and Detroit); or maybe it's because our states are blue ones, or possibly because we both were somewhat educated (Dave is now a senior at SIU, and I am a junior at DePaul University). Who knows for sure? But one thing that is most significant now is the fact that we are both against this senseless war. Both of us have seen the impact firsthand, Dave in Iraq and I in Kosovo. We have seen our friends' names show up among the dead. We have seen many come back missing limbs, mangled, their lives forever changed. We have one friend who was lost in a series of makeshift field hospitals, which worsened his injuries and condition before they "found" him. His wife left him, saying that she "would not take care of a retard." Many sad stories like this have come about because of the deception that was used to get the American people to somehow support this war.

After Senator Yarborough addressed the crowd of veterans and media, Dave and I were asked to speak as veterans of the recent conflicts and to honor those who had fallen. I noticed that all the media outlets like NBC and CBS had packed up and left. I was shocked by that. It sent a very clear message to me. I realized that Americans do not want to listen, hear, or see what is going on over there in Iraq and Afghanistan. They couldn't care less. I do not understand this country. Why do we not honor those who sacrifice themselves? The only ones who remained to listen to the story were the other veterans, veterans of Vietnam, World War II, the Korean War, and other conflicts such as Somalia, Grenada, Lebanon, Bosnia, and Kosovo. They remained standing with us. Feeling the pain.