‘No Soldier Left Behind’: Cabarrus Veterans Reflect on Service, Sacrifice, and Solidarity

Veterans gathered at Concord’s Logan Recreation Center to share stories of service and the unbreakable bonds forged in uniform.

Military veterans, from left, Nancy Lowery, Bernard Davis Jr., Rosalind Watson and Brian Gist. Photo credit: Chris Miller.

Growing up as one of 14 siblings in a three-room house, Robert Neal rarely had a moment — or a space — to himself. So when the Vietnam veteran was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1973, it brought a sense of freedom he had never known before — including the simple luxury of having his own bed.