American troops who gave their lives in war, and veterans who have died after serving their country were remembered Monday in solemn ceremonies hosted by the Southern Ute Veterans Association.

There was a separate note of sadness that fewer and fewer Americans seem to care about this, and that young veterans don't seem to be stepping up to keep veterans groups going as current members reach old age.

Spiritual leader Terry Knight Sr., an Air Force veteran from the Vietnam era, said only a few people showed up for the veterans' early morning ceremony that day for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.

"We are always going off to other places to support other people. What about our people?" He lamented that many young veterans don't feel a sense of duty after they did their time. "Today there are just a few of us that are doing this on behalf of the people that served."

The Utes used to roam over huge amounts of territory, but it was rough country and they had to be tough to survive, Knight said. "That's who we are. We (veterans) want to remind us of who we are and why we wear the uniform, or maybe we don't. That's freedom to think, say, do, be what we want."

In a foxhole and under fire, everyone is a brother, he said. "We are all different colors. I'm here because I got (the enemy shooter) first, but a lot of my comrades didn't. It's only two days out of the year (Memorial Day and Veterans Day) that we can do this. What's so tough about it? Just for a few hours, put uniforms on and be recognized."

Army Vietnam vet Howard Richards Sr. from the Southern Ute Veterans welcomed representatives from a VFW post in Arizona. He said the camaraderie among veterans "speaks for itself." He urged veterans to get enrolled for the VA benefits they are entitled to, that the government owes them. Many Vietnam veterans, himself included, were exposed to the jungle defoliant Agent Orange. "I have the effects. I don't talk about it a lot. Just to veterans. ... We're living on borrowed time. That Agent Orange is slowly killing a lot of us."

He continued, "Look at your uncle who was in Vietnam. What is he going through today? The war is always in your mind, day in and day out."

Sgt. Major Kenneth Adair, field operations director for the New Mexico Department of Veterans Services, thanked those gathered in the Veterans' Memorial Park on the Southern Ute tribal campus. "We must remember each service member who raised their right hand and swore to protect the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic," he said. "They signed a blank check to give their lives. ... Our destiny as a free people is entirely up to us. ... We owe it to those who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep their memories alive. We owe it to their children, wives, mothers, the fathers who buried their sons too early," he concluded, choking up.

Andrew Welch, director of the veterans' hospital in Albuquerque, added, "The America we know would not be the same without the men and women we honor on Memorial Day."

Richards welcomed tribal member Raymond Baker, recently retired as a Chief Warrant Officer after 33 years in the Navy. He was senior leader of a highly decorated a Navy dive team.

"I came back home because that's where my heart is," Baker said. He cited Lori Piestewa, the first Native woman to die in combat and one of the first Iraq war deaths in 2003.

Veterans Group member Rod Grove presented honorary blankets to Adair, Welch, Baker, and Marvin Trujillo, chairman of the Southwest Native American Veterans Association. Then Grove and Richards invited veterans or their family members to come receive a red rose.

The ceremonies at the park shifted to the Walk of the Warriors procession to the Bear Dance bridge to drop a memorial wreath into the river, and then to Ouray Memorial Cemetery where the remembrances continued.

Alden Naranjo Jr. noted that his father, a World War II veteran, was buried there. Warriors have been part of Native culture since before the United States was created, he said. "They fought for their homes. Today we are still doing that." Think of the veterans who have been maimed, mentally or physically, in wars, as well as those who died in them, he said. "If there's ever a time that this country has peace, our Indian people will have a great feast knowing our children won't have to make that sacrifice."

He welcomed home the Vietnam vets in recognition of the negative welcome they got when they returned home.

Howard Richards, a Southern Ute, and Manuel Heart, of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe, placed wreaths at a large granite marker for the unknown dead in a mass grave from the early 1900s. Many of the white crosses in the cemetery also say "unknown."

Ceremonies ended as Marine Corps veteran Bill Morris played Taps and an honor guard fired a salute.