Despite threatening skies and rain earlier in the morning, Southern Ute and other local residents turned out Monday for the annual Day of Remembrance to honor all U.S. military veterans, living or dead. The event is organized by the Southern Ute Veterans' Association, made up predominantly of Vietnam-era veterans.
Air Force veteran Terry Knight Sr. from Towaoc honored those who provide support on the home front, especially the mothers, for those who leave to defend those homes. "It's that woman in that house that will keep things moving," he said. "The mother, the grandmother, the aunt."
Vietnam veteran Howard Richards Sr., commander of the Veterans' Association, cited the pain of the recent 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon in 1975, comparing it to the pain of ripping the scab off a wound. There were comrades whose faces he remembers even though he didn't know their names, he said.
Southern Ute Tribal Chairman Clement Frost, an Army veteran, urged people to give honor every day to "those who gave their lives for us to have freedom, to live in a peaceful way... Don't take them for granted. Always treat one another with respect, and never turn our backs on our veterans. They didn't turn their backs on us."
He continued, "It takes a lot of courage to leave your family behind and go into a foreign land, knowing you may not come home. Remember to walk in honor for them. Be proud of them, be proud of who you are."
Vietnam veteran Rod Grove cited the toxic legacy for surviving veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange, a chemical defoliant sprayed on the jungles and the American troops present in them, to make it harder for enemy fighters to hide. Those veterans are now dealing with Agent Orange-rellated illnesses, so the number of names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall will increase, he said. And soldiers from the first Iraq war also are experience diseases tied to use of ammunition containing uranium, which they weren't told about, he said,
Grove was honored by Eddie Box Jr., Betty Box, and their family members for being the lead organizer for the Day of Remembrance.
Bill Morris, immaculately clad in his Marine Corps dress uniform, said, "We cannot forget. The generations that follow us must not forget. ... It's for us the living to establish a society that will ban war... that these honored dead will not have died in vain." Members of the Veterans' Association presented him with a red military service vest.
The event started in the Veterans' Memorial Park on the Southern Ute campus, followed by a procession to the Bear Dance bridge, where Air Force veteran Russell Box said a prayer in Ute and dropped a wreath into the Los Pinos River.
The procession continued to the cemetery, where tribal elder Alden Naranjo Jr. remembered the way Vietnam veterans were treated when they came home.
"There were no parades, no welcome," Naranjo said. "So today I want to say, welcome home."
He also noted, "There are veterans who are having a difficult time, walking the streets. If one puts his hat out to me, I put something in it so he can get something to eat." He concluded, "We have our ups and downs, but as long as we communicate with the Great Spirit, we can get along."
The ceremonies were interspersed with flag and honor songs by the 12 Gauge and Red Spirit drum groups. Marlena Begay continued her tradition of singing the National Anthem at the start of ceremonies. At the cemetery, bagpiper Jim Lynch played "Amazing Grace."
Chairman Frost and Ute Mountain Ute Chairman Manuel Heart placed wreaths on a monument to tribal members who died of smallpox many years ago. As the clouds lowered and the wind increased, Bill Morris played "Taps" at the conclusion of the day's ceremonies.
