Memorial Day, a federal holiday observed on the last Monday in May, is a day of remembrance of those who died while serving in the U.S. military. It is a time to honor their service and ultimate sacrifice for our country.
With high school graduations and the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, there is a lot going on in Durango over Memorial Day weekend, appropriately including events that pay tribute to and honor men and women who lost their lives in the line of duty.
Healing Fields at Santa Rita Park stands out as a beautiful sight to see as hundreds of uniformly displayed flags call to mind troops standing at quiet attention. Some of the flags have dog tags hanging from them with names of veterans sponsored by a friend or family member. The display is sponsored by the Blue Star Moms of Durango and is free to the public to visit anytime this weekend.
Also on Monday, a Vietnam Memorial Ceremony is being held at Iris Park, 1235 Camino del Rio, at 10 a.m. A Veterans Memorial Ceremony will take place at Greenmount Cemetery at 11 a.m. A Those Lost at Sea Ceremony will take place at the bridge over the Animas River behind Rotary Park at 11:45 a.m. The VFW Post 4031 is hosting an Open House from noon to 3 p.m. at 1550 Main Ave., and Healing Fields closes the weekend at 4 p.m.
Giving one’s life for our freedom is truly the ultimate sacrifice and why it is so shocking that the current Republican administration, by August, plans to cut 83,000 jobs from the Department of Veterans Affairs (Herald, May 19), the agency that supports veterans and their families with benefits, health care and cemetery services.
Proposed cuts, 15% of the essential workforce, layered with staffing shortages that include 66,000 current health system vacancies, will surely cripple an already beleaguered system. According to a 2024 report by the VA’s Office of Inspector General, a position President Donald Trump fired with other IGs in January, 137 of 139 VA health centers nationally are experiencing severe staffing shortages in one or more areas, particularly psychiatric care and nursing.
The VA has struggled for decades at the hands of presidential administrations of both parties. But, as with so much with this administration, this is different.
DOGE cuts across the federal government have lacked planning and strategy and resulted in chaos, confusion and further exacerbated, rather than fixed, inefficiencies. At 635,000, the federal government is the single largest employer of veterans nationwide, half whom have a disability. The rampant and indiscriminate early firings of 38,000 federal employees resulted in 6,000 veterans losing their jobs.
The Herald’s editorial board believes this administration’s handling of veterans, and the agency charged with supporting them, is shameful to its core.
In the mix of spending Memorial Day weekend with and in remembrance of loved ones, consider writing a letter or calling your members of Congress to say “no” to cuts and to demand support for the VA.
It could be one of the most patriotic things you do.
