BUFFALO, N.Y. — Two decades later, the City of Buffalo gathered and remembered Private First Class David Evans Jr.
“He was a son,” said Congressman Brian Higgins. “He was a Boy Scout. He was a soldier and forever will be remembered as a national hero.”
He was a hero whose dreams were cut tragically short.
“Even though it was 20 years ago, that is inconsequential,” said Don Higgins, Captain, of Patriot Guard Riders.
On May 25, 2003, Evans — who long dreamed of being an FBI agent — was killed while serving in the Iraq War after a munitions dump his unit was guarding exploded.
His death has originally ruled a homicide but was changed to accidental after the Army revealed it was his comrades messing around and lighting fuses that set off the explosion.
His mother Esther Macklin told 2 On Your Side’s Dave McKinley she still feels she’s without justice.
“I just feel like they got away with murder,” Macklin said.
But on Memorial Day, rather than remembering the way he went, his former home presented his family with his military medals and cemented his legacy into history alongside the other African American soldiers from Western New York that sacrificed the same.
A ceremony took place at the African American Monument in Buffalo Monday where a brick with his name was laid.
“What we're trying to do here is just bring notoriety to sometimes the forgotten and the left behind African Americans who have contributed to the United States military and given the ultimate sacrifice,” said Howard Patton, Commander, Jesse Clipper Post #430.
“Our children often have superheroes that they look up to,” said Buffalo Common Council President Darius Pridgen. “We grew up with people like Batman, Superman, Aquaman — they were mythical. They weren't real. We had the opportunity to have a real superhero
And while Evans’ body sits in Arlington, his memory is now forever etched at home.