Gulf War veteran Carl Dozier participates in the South Norfolk July 4th Parade hosted by The South Norfolk Civic League and the Chesapeake Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department on July 4, 2023, in Chesapeake, Va. At the parade, Dozier remembered the sacrifice his son Jonathan made 15 years ago while serving in Iraq. (Tess Crowley/The Virginian-Pilot)
(Tribune News Service) — Fathers and sons traded stories and jokes among the crowd lining the streets for the annual South Norfolk Fourth of July parade, but Gulf War veteran Carl Dozier’s son would not be joining him for the procession Tuesday.
“Independence Day is based on the blood of the patriots who came before,” Dozier, 76, said while wearing a wristband on his left arm featuring his son’s portrait and killed-in-action date.
In January 2008, Jonathan Kilian Dozier, was 30 when he was one of six men killed by an improvised explosive device hidden within a house during fighting in Sinsil, Iraq. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Jonathan joined a family tradition of military service when he joined the Army in 1997, according to his father, who was wearing his veteran’s cap and a red, white and blue button-up featuring a picture of the Constitution on Tuesday.
Carl Dozier’s father, Wilbur “Red” Dozier, fought in World War II, and Carl’s grandson Jacob is in the Coast Guard. Before he was killed, Jonathan was part of the same VFW Post as his father — 2894 — on Battlefield Boulevard in Chesapeake, Va. The post now bears his name.
“Have we ever been perfect? No,” Dozier said, “but we constantly move to be that more perfect union.”
Other veterans at the parade agreed.
William Brown, a 68-year-old Army veteran from Norfolk, Va., followed his older brother Melvin into the military a year after he enlisted in 1973. He served until 1981, when he was medically discharged after carbon monoxide poisoning left him unable to walk. He has learned to live with his disability, and Tuesday, with the sun shining down, he had no complaints
“I still go on with life,” said Brown, with Disabled American Veterans Chapter 26.
Brown said there are bad current events bringing down Americans today, but we are still able to find the positives and keep building.
“The United States is a wonderful country, it’s a beautiful country,” Brown said. “It’s a country to serve.”
Fellow area native Charlie Hackman served between 1963 and 1967 and was a B-52 tail turret gunner. Later, he and his wife Dorothy, who grew up in South Norfolk, founded the company now known as Hackworth Graphics which is nearing its 50th year. Hackman said there are many people from all around who come to the South Norfolk community for the parade that celebrates the country’s freedom and work toward a better tomorrow.
“We may have a lot of problems during the year,” Hackman said, but “it all comes together. There’s a lot of love, lot of fellowship, lot of remembrances.”
After the parade, Carl Dozier could be found flanked by friends, family and fellow veterans at the cookout at VFW SSG Jonathan K. Dozier Memorial Post 2984. The community gathered in the former fire station’s emergency bays, surrounded by awards the post has received.
To Carl Dozier, his son well articulated the meaning service and patriotism in a letter he sent back home after deploying.
“It’s believing in something greater than yourself,” Dozier said.
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