City Council approved renaming a short strip of road that connects Colorado Highway 3 with South Camino del Rio in honor of a Durango native and Vietnam War veteran awarded the Silver Star Medal.
Street signs for Santa Rita Drive will soon be replaced with placards honoring Larry Valdez. Valdez was awarded a Silver Star for gallantry in action against a superior force and three Bronze Star Medals for heroism in a combat zone or meritorious service in a war zone. The road is planned to be renamed Larry Valdez Way.
“I believe that when you honor one veteran, you honor all veterans,” said Mayor Sweetie Marbury.
Valdez graduated from Durango High School in 1966 and, in 1967, was drafted into the U.S. Army. While in Vietnam, Valdez and a group of fellow soldiers were moving an M42 Duster, an armored vehicle, from one site to another when Vietcong soldiers opened fire from the brush, said Larry Valdez Jr. at a City Council meeting Tuesday.
Valdez Sr. jumped on a machine gun mounted in the M42 Duster, fired at enemy forces, left his position to open a hatch for his compatriots to escape, then returned to shooting at the enemy, who eventually retreated, Valdez Jr. said. The act won him the Silver Star.
The Valdez family has been working with city staff since fall 2018 to design the details of the proposal to rename Santa Rita Drive and raised $1,500 toward fabrication of new signage.
City staff must draft an ordinance to rename the road, and City Council must approve it twice. Final approval of the ordinance is scheduled for April 16 – the soonest the signs will go up is April 26.
bhauff@durangoherald.com
