IGNACIO
A couple of hundred people gathered Monday under broken clouds – but no rain – at the Southern Ute Veterans Memorial Park for a Memorial Day ceremony to honor the service members who gave their full measure in defense of the nation.
Three tribes – Southern Utes, Ute Mountain Utes and Northern Utes – contributed to the observation in front of the granite memorial that commemorates fallen warriors from two world wars, Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf.
An inscription reads: “Grandfather, creator of the heavens and Earth, we dedicate this sacred wall in honor of our brave warriors. In the morning mist and glow of evening we shall remember them: Their personal sacrifice and devotion to our people and country will never be forgotten. May the winds of peace blow softly here while their spirits soar skyward as an eagle.”
The wall bears 105 names.
Presentation of the colors – the raising of the American flag flanked by a POW-MIA flag and a Southern Ute Indian Tribe flag opened the ceremony.
Two Native American groups – Red Spirit Northern Ute Drum Group and the 12-Gauge Southern Ute Drum Group performed. Marlena Begay performed a cappella the national anthem, and two students from the Southern Ute Montessori academy led the Pledge of Allegiance.
“Don’t take for granted the people who left to defend our country because they gave their life so we can live in peace,” said Clement Frost, chairman of the Southern Ute Tribal Council, who gave the welcoming address. “Don’t turn your back on them because they never turned their back on you.”
Durango City Councilor Sweetie Marbury urged her listeners to remember the grandfathers, fathers, husbands, brothers and sons who didn’t return from war or who were listed as missing in action.
Bill Morris, a U.S. Marine who served in Vietnam, said the solemn occasion of Memorial Day is the appropriate time to rededicate oneself to preserving victories provided by the departed.
“Now, on this occasion, we rekindle the fires of patriotism, freedom and liberty and again renew the vows of loyalty to the accomplishments that our noble dead have made,” Morris said. “It is for us, the living to establish a society that will ban war and permanently retain the freedom and equal rights of all men, women and children and of all nations. We must see that those honored dead shall not have died in vain.”
Memorial Day observations also were held at Iris Park, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Association, and at Greenmount Cemetery, organized by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
At noon, an honor guard compromised of volunteers from American Legion Post No. 28 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 4031 launched a wreath into the Animas River from the Ninth Street bridge to honor Navy, Coast Guard and Marine personnel who died protecting the country.
“They are sent every day to serve near the many hot spots of the world as a looming deterrent to those who would threaten our peace,” Mike Goodwin, the local American Legion commander, said. “Our having fleets at sea prevents our putting feet on the ground.
“Most of their work and sacrifice goes unhailed and unnoticed until we need them, only to find they are already there,” Goodwin said.
Memorial Day started as Decoration Day in 1866 and became more established by 1868, as families sought to remember their lost sons and fathers from the Civil War. The original observation also is claimed by several places, and some Southern states hold a ceremony independent of the national holiday.
daler@durangoherald.com
