Local veterans honored during solemn ceremony

U.S. Army veteran Earl Milford stands at attention while Taps is played for fallen comrades at the Navajo Nation US Veteran's Memorial Park in Window Rock on Monday. "Its hard and it hurts when we remember those that didn't come home," said Milford. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Adron Gardner

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

GALLUP — Honor and respect were the watchwords for most attendees of Monday’s Memorial Day ceremony in Gallup.

Hundreds of people braved the holiday weekend’s rainy weather to attend the Gallup-McKinley County Veterans Memorial Day Celebration at the McKinley County Courthouse Square. The event drew children and adults alike who wanted to honor veterans of the community and pay their respects to McKinley County’s fallen soldiers.

“We always need to remember the men and women that have served to protect our freedom that have come from right here in northwest New Mexico,” said state Rep. Patty Lundstrom, one of the morning’s speakers. With incoming thunder rumbling in the distance, Lundstrom said she was proud that “come rain or shine on Memorial Day we take the time to honor our dead and to say thank you to those veterans with us.”

Kennedy Mid-School students Lauren Macias and Sabrina Bhakta, attending the ceremony for the first time, attended alongside their fellow members of the local Civil Air Patrol.

Gallup High school student Brittany Eustace helped open the ceremony by singing the national anthem and later closed with “Amazing Grace.”

Lillie J. Thomas, from Iyanbito, she had already attended a flag folding ceremony in Iyanbito on Monday morning before attending the celebration at the courthouse. She was attending, Thomas explained, because she likes to offer her support to veterans. Jack and Linda Begayne, of Twin Lakes, said they were attending because they have had lots of relatives that have served in the U.S. Armed Forces — from all the major wars of the 20th century to the present day.

Local fallen soldiers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice were the focus of Monday’s ceremony. Two Gallup families who have lost sons to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were the ceremony’s honored guests. Red and Jackie Cunningham, parents of Air Force Senior Airman Jason D. Cunningham, were in attendance, along with Charles and Mary Johnson, parents of Army Chief Warrant Officer Christopher C. Johnson. Cunningham, the father of two daughters, was killed in action on March 4, 2002, in Afghanistan. Johnson, the father of a daughter and two sons, was killed in action on Aug. 14, 2007, near Anbar Province in Iraq.

Lisa Baca Diaz, a member of the Gallup-McKinley County Veterans Committee, read a solemn Final Roll Call that featured the 65 names of local soldiers who died in World War II, the nine who died in the Korean War, the 18 who died in the Vietnam War, and the three who have died in the Persian Gulf wars.

Since the veterans’ monument was erected in Galllup’s Courthouse Square, Baca Diaz explained, names of local veterans have continued to be added to the monument’s different pillars. To date, 1,484 names of local veterans have been engraved on the pillars, she said.

Master of ceremonies Joe Zecca, chair of the veterans committee that organized Monday’s celebration, also recognized Antonio “Tony” Nunez and Tim Smith, two local World War II veterans who were in attendance. “Freedom isn’t free,” Zecca said at the conclusion of the ceremony. “If you love your freedom, say thank you to a veteran.”

After the ceremony, Duane and Lillian Crow, of Vanderwagen, explained they attend Memorial Day ceremonies in different communities each year. When he returned from the Vietnam War, Duane Crow said, there were no public ceremonies to honor veterans. “There was nothing then,” he said.

Lillian Crow, added she likes to attend such ceremonies now as a way to pay her respect to veterans. Her own son, Bryan Elliott, is now stationed in Alabama, she said, after serving two tours of duty in Afghanistan and one tour in Iraq.