Nationally touring war exhibition travels to Hawthorne

The acclaimed war memorial “Always Lost: A Meditation on War,” which includes the faces and names of the nearly 7,000 U.S. service members who perished in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, will be displayed in Hawthorne this week. “Always Lost” has been traveling throughout the United States since 2010 and is being hosted by the American Legion-Mineral County Post 19 as part of Hawthorne’s Armed Forces Day celebration.

The arts and humanities exhibition will be open for viewing at 721 E St. through Thursday from noon-5 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m.–6 p.m.

Retired Marine and American Legion-Mineral County member James “Gunny” Utterback is overseeing the exhibition’s display in Hawthorne.

“We are thrilled and excited to have this exhibit as part of our 65th annual Armed Forces Day celebration,” said Utterback. “In the past, we have had other tributes to our veterans from different eras, such as the traveling Vietnam memorial. We now can honor service members and veterans of our current wars.”

The “Always Lost: A Meditation on War” exhibition brings home the personal and collective costs of war through original poetry by Nevada writers; the 2004 Pulitzer Prize-winning Iraq War combat photograph collection courtesy of The Dallas Morning News; and the Wall of the Dead, faces and names of U.S. military war casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001.

Hawthorne is the seventh venue in the 2014-2016 NV150 Sesquicentennial statewide tour sponsored by the Nevada Department of Veterans Services (NDVS). A second copy of the exhibition is currently touring the state of Minnesota. By mid-2016, “Always Lost” will have been displayed at 50 venues across the nation.

NDVS Director Kat Miller said, “I saw ‘Always Lost’ as a way to serve veterans by promoting a statewide conversation about veterans’ issues important to Nevada and our nation and to inspire a sense of collective responsibility and respect that drives workforce, educational, and wellness opportunities for veterans in Nevada.”

“Always Lost: A Meditation on War” began as a class project at Western Nevada College in 2009 and has been bringing a message of awareness and unity to communities across the nation for nearly five years. The exhibition was selected as an official NV150 Sesquicentennial exhibit by the NV150 Commission.