While in class last Thursday, Oct. 28, I got a text from a friend I had served with, asking me to call him.?We have several mutual friends who are currently deployed, so I stepped out of class to call him back, worried that something had happened.?My friend told me a former coworker and fellow servicemember, SSG Adam Dickmyer, had died in Afghanistan.
Adam was the same age as most of my fellow law students, 26 years old.?He had joined the Army right out of high school, guarded the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from 2003 to 2009, and then deployed to Afghanistan in June of this year with the 2nd Battalion, 502 Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.?He was killed by an IED while walking a foot patrol in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and leaves behind a wife, sister, mother, father and many others.?
Veterans Day is next Thursday, Nov. 11.??It is a celebration to honor American’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.?We should remember people like Roger, an AU student who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan; Holly, who was deployed to Bosnia; John, an AU student who got involuntarily recalled off of IRR status and is currently serving his second tour in Iraq, an Jim, a faculty member at the Washington College of Law who was a paratrooper in the Korean War.?And, while we are thinking of midterm election, midterm tests and rallies to inspire, we should remember heroes like SSG Adam Dickmyer, who believed so strongly in the rights and freedoms we take for granted on a daily basis that he was willing to give his life to defend them.
Charlie Fowler Third year student at WCL Fowler served as an enlisted Infantryman and was on active duty in the Army from Oct. 2001 to July 2006. He is currently serving as a first lieutenant in the Army reserve.
