Saluting vets, sharing stories

link Staff photo: Brittney Cannon

U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, popped in the American Legion Post 25 on Wednesday morning to have breakfast with veterans, serve them food and clean up some pots and pans. Lujan said one of the best ways to honor veterans is to share their stories and tell them thanks for their service.

One of the best ways to honor America’s service members is to keep sharing their stories, U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-New Mexico, said Wednesday morning at the Veteran’s Day breakfast at American Legion Post 25.

Lujan said he was talking about his grandfather’s service in World War II with veterans Tuesday night at the VFW Post 3015 open house and heard stories about bronze star recipients, prisoners of war and those missing in action.

“We always make sure that we celebrate our families’ stories, their memories,” Lujan said. “Keep their stories alive, because that’s how we keep their spirits alive and honor their service. … It’s just amazing to hear these stories. That’s what today and every day should be about.”

For American Legion Post 25 Commander Trinidad Oritz, being a veteran means making sacrifices to “go do a job that needed to be done for this country.”

“A lot of us gave up families and lives and jobs … to keep it free, to keep it safe, to keep us being able to do this,” said Oritz, an Air Force veteran who served 14 years. “We may complain about taxes and the government, but I’d rather be complaining here than in Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan or anywhere else but here. To me, it means a lot.”

Although Lujan has never served in any branch of the military, he said he has made steps to improve Veterans Affairs through his position in Congress.

One thing he’s proud of, he said, was pushing to secure advanced funding for the VA in 2010, and to give the secretary of the VA “more authority … to terminate those that are causing problems.”

“What we heard and what we’re still looking into is that they were putting our veterans on this wait list or that they weren’t getting veterans scheduled in a timely fashion to be able to see their specialists or their practitioners and doctors to get treated,” Lujan said. “All that has to change.”

To help improve the wait-list situation, Lujan said he was able to help veterans that weren’t getting medical treatment “within a certain time period” to get schedules with doctors outside of the VA.

“But it’s also a recognition that they’re still not scheduling veterans in a timely fashion,” Lujan said. “We talk about cases where our veterans have certain needs or medical issues … whatever it may be, there needs to be a timely fashion to get that scheduled and get them in.”

Lujan said taking uncertainty with funding the VA “out of the equation,” would also help the overall situation. Lujan added that he was part of securing advanced funding for the VA in 2010.

“We need to continue to strive towards that part of the way we fund the VA and take care of our veterans,” Lujan said.

Not only does Lujan want to ensure the VA’s funding, but also to make sure that there is a conversation about how to keep “a close eye on our assets,” in New Mexico, Cannon Air Force Base among them.

Lujan said he advocated for appropriation requests for the base in 2009 and 2010, and worked with the Committee of 50 to ensure Cannon stays in Clovis.

“We need to continue to show why Cannon is so important … it’s something we should appreciate,” Lujan said. “Especially because of the fact that when our airmen and women are on missions out of Cannon, there’s not fanfare when they leave, there’s not fanfare when they come back because they don’t want anyone to know they’ve been gone. We have a role and responsibility to advocate and fight for Cannon, and we’ll continue to do that.”

Lujan said we should thank the airmen and their families when they’re out in public, and Ortiz agreed — he said it’s what makes him feel the best.

“What really feels good is when people recognize and say, ‘Hey, thank you for your service,’” Ortiz said. “Just those few words mean a whole lot.”