Letter to the Editor: Veterans Day in Ruidoso
Veterans Day in Ruidoso
Just before I unfold and raise our Flag for our Fathers, I look down at the embedded memorial bricks at the base of the flag pole. I begin every day by thanking our family members who served, whether in combat or not; they sacrificed for God, country and family.
There are some who are reading this who will remember the draft lottery of December 1969. I was number 80. My draft notice to experience an all-expense-paid trip to sunny and wet Southeast Asia was in the mail before the last of the 366 annual birthdays were numerically identified. I packed my bags, took one last look at the edifice known as Eddy Hall at Eastern New Mexico University, and drove my VW Beetle the nearly 2,000 miles to New York's Brooklyn Navy Yard where, due to a recent injury, I failed the Army physical. I was the first male family member to not serve.
As I age and become more loquacious, I want to know more about the people who enable the appreciated life we lead. Our flag pole and flag were purchased from veteran owned companies. The foundation for our memorial was created by a local veteran who often spends his Sundays donating his skills as a former general contractor to help others who are in need of domestic repair work.
I try and observe clothing that identifies a service member and offer my gratitude for allowing the rest of us to live in American freedom. Like many, I was preoccupied in my narcissistic youth to truly analyze world events and actually pay attention to those who knew a heck of a lot more than I did.
Some years ago I had a neighbor who was a Marine during World War II. He was a big man in stature and character who was always there to enable a peaceful, American, neighborly experience. When he passed, I wrote a celebratory editorial honoring his service. That was the day I realized that most of us are “invisible” to our political leaders. Since then, my wife and I have experienced the passing of our veteran, greatest generation fathers and we are continually grateful for their sacrifice and are unapologetic in our determination to not allow “invisibility” to infiltrate our historic pride.
But we are also grateful for the veteran contractor who offered us a spec-home to lay our heads while we sourced suitable affordable housing before the beginning of our contract with the Ruidoso Municipal Schools. And the veteran postal workers who delivered our bills on time. And the veteran grocery store check-out clerks who would not comment negatively about our dietary choices. And the veterans who have parlayed their military training into life skills to serve their communities. And the veterans who have utilized their organizational and leadership skills to foster better government in America. And the veterans who allow us a healthy lifestyle. And I would be remiss to not acknowledge my veteran, teaching colleagues who taught me much more than any college education class could ever teach about engaging with students.
After the 2016 election of a businessman to the highest office in the land of the free, students at Hampshire College (Massachusetts) first lowered the main campus flag, then burned a flag the next day, continued to fly the flag at half-mast for several days, and then removed the flag entirely, finally igniting the wrath of local veterans' groups. As an educator and American I was aghast but my combat veteran younger brother reminded me of the Constitution he had pledged to uphold when he said he had fought for their right to protest even though he disagreed with their methodology. I was humbled. Again.
At the end of the day, I take down the flag, fold it, and put it away until the morrow and again I realize that without United States veterans, there is no United States of America. It is they who provide the cohesive cognitive glue that makes America the envy of the world as “... one nation under God ….”
On Sept. 29, 2022, 29 military veterans, who upon their deaths remained unclaimed by family members, were laid to rest with a full military burial because of New Mexico's Forgotten Heroes Burial Program. As Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Department of Veteran Services Sonya Smith said during the funeral referencing their invisibility, they are remembered “... because today your being here shows that they are not forgotten.” Our thanks and gratitude to all United States veterans – this Veterans Day and every day.
We cannot forget your sacrifice.
Galen Farrington
Alto, New Mexico
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Letter to the Editor: Veterans Day in Ruidoso
