Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
“If you don’t read history, or make people aware of history, then you tend to repeat history.”
Those were the words of American Legion Post 31 member Mike Woolley’s history professor, and they were the most appropriate words he could use to encourage people to attend the legion’s Nov. 11 Veterans Day event at the Portales Memorial Building.
“It’s a day to honor veterans and their sacrifices — those that have served, those that are serving, and those that will serve,” he said.
The event will begin 10:30 a.m. Saturday, and will feature special guest speaker Col. John Boudreaux, commander of the 27th Special Operations Mission Support Group at Cannon Air Force Base.
In an email to Boudreaux, Woolley informed the guest speaker he would be addressing “at least three WWII veterans, five Korean War veterans and then a bunch of us Vietnam era veterans.”
Former Eastern New Mexico University President Steven Gamble will also be in attendance, as he will be presented with a certificate of appreciation for “his efforts in education,” according to Post 31 Commander Dale Streeter.
Veterans Day is not only a way to honor veterans, according to Streeter, but to gain an appreciation of military service as a whole.
The common experience of veterans has deteriorated with the establishment of a “volunteer army,” Streeter said, “and a lot of people just don’t ever consider national service or military service as a sort of component of citizenship.”
“I think it’s an important thing to remind people that veterans have done a lot for this country, and perhaps it will just raise some awareness of their sacrifice, and of their service, more generally,” he said.
American Legion Post 25 in Clovis will also hold a veteran’s breakfast from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Nov. 11.