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| The Women Veterans of Farmington, N.M., Post No. 1912 carry the American flag, the Prisoner of War flag, and the American Veterans flag toward the stage Saturday. Known as the “Lady Warriors,” they are, from front, Beverly Charley, Monica McThias, and Brenda Hunt. They are the first all-female post of American Veterans and chose the number 1912 because that was the year New Mexico became a state. Photo by Jonathan Schwab |
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Mountain name honors missing, killed
Jonathan Schwab - Mail Staff Writer
VILLA GROVE - Mount KIA/MIA, named to honor all U.S. veterans killed in action or missing in action, was dedicated Friday through Sunday during a ceremony about 5 miles south of Villa Grove off Colo. 17.
The mountain, designated in October by the Board of Geographic Names as a national monument, is in the southern Sawatch Range, about 3 miles north of Sheep Mountain and 4 miles south of Mount Ouray.
Its peak elevation is 11,282 feet and it is only approachable on foot. Its location is near Silver Creek in Saguache County.
Leading the ceremony was dedication committee chairman Bradley Hight of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe at Towaoc. The meaning of the sound KIA/MIA in the Ute language is "place where people walk about playing" or "place where people walk about laughing."
Bradley said he liked the idea of having a sacred place available because his great uncle, whom he never met, had died in Italy during World War II.
Speaking to about 75 dedication spectators Saturday, Hight said the process of naming the mountain started in summer 2002 when he met a fellow veteran who wanted to name a mountain to honor all lost or killed U.S. veterans.
After that, Hight said, "Wherever I traveled, I would try to get support letters for this."
Hight said he got "a lot of help" in applying to the Bureau of Land Management for the naming of the mountain - from other Utes and members of the Navajo, Lakota, and Sioux tribes.
Ute Tribe chairman Ernest House, speaking at the ceremony after Hight, said, "It's just proper we name a mountain after the KIA/MIA.
"These people must have been tough to endure what they were able to," he said. "We will never forget what they did to protect our country and how Mother Earth allows us to be able to endure what we need to in order to survive."
Terry O'Neill of Jefferson, a representative of the American Legion 12th District in Park, Chaffee and Lake counties, told participants the dedication "is an incredible tribute to our fallen veterans.
"Many of the men and women in the military and their family members are going to need lifelong attention," he said.
He paused his speech when two Air Force Chinook helicopters flew overhead honoring veterans.
Several Salidans attended the ceremony, including personnel from American Legion Post 64 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3820.
Rich Padoven, Post 64 commander, said, "I was disappointed in the turnout, but it was a touching ceremony."
He said there was confusion about location of the ceremony and a struggle to get people to travel that far.
After O'Neill's speech, Hight and other organizers reenacted notification of next of kin with Ron Martinez of Monte Vista, whose son, Sgt. Glen Martinez, was killed May 2 by a bomb in Iraq.
The reenactment was done to display emotions a family goes through after losing a veteran.
Another speaker, John Garcia, secretary for the American Veterans of New Mexico, said, "When an American veteran signs up for the military, he is writing a blank check to the American people in the value of his life."
In addition to speeches, the ceremony included singing, music, prayer, gourd dancing and a flag presentation by the Women Veterans of Farmington, N.M., Post No. 1912, the first all-female post of American Veterans.
Known as the "Lady Warriors," they chose the number 1912 because that was the year New Mexico became a state. They carried the American flag, the Prisoner of War flag, and the American Veterans flag.
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