CHICAGO (CBS) — A few dozen veterans and supporters gathered Sunday at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial along Chicago’s Riverwalk, where they called for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Aaron Hughes from North Riverside served in Iraq with the Illinois Army National Guard in 2003 and 2004. He began the day asking for a moment of silence to remember those who have died and those who will die in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ash Kyrie also spent time in Iraq from 2003-2004, through the Wisconsin Army National Guard.

He says that war changed him. He now believes it was a waste of time, and he looks back on history, when civilians seemed to really be affected in times of war.

He looks at World War I when Shetland ponies nearly became extinct because people were eating them, and at World War II when Americans set up patriot gardens. He says today, there is a civilian disconnect that shouldn’t happen during war.

Kyrie is now an artist. His work is on display at the National Veterans Art Museum, which celebrated the grand opening of its new space Sunday at 4041 N. Milwaukee Avenue.

The 86th annual Veterans Day Parade is slated for 9:30 a.m., Monday at 43rd and Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. The procession will end with a ceremony at the historic Victory Monument, 35th and King Drive.

The parade organizers will feed homeless veterans during a special luncheon at Mother Price’s Feed, Clothe and Help The Needy Center, located at 59th and Racine, at 2 p.m.