By Guadalupe Santos-Sanchez, Staff Reporter
Starting on Monday, Nov. 10 and continuing on until Thursday, Nov. 13, CNM will celebrate veterans for a second year with Veterans Awareness Week, said Libby Fatta, Student Events and Programs manager for the Dean of Students office.
Events will be held in the Main, Montoya, Westside, and South Valley campuses at various times and the events will include Veteran Resource Day, flag ceremonies, and speeches, she said.
“This year’s theme is ‘Recognizing the Sacrifices of our Women Veterans’ and we expect to have two World War Two veterans and one Vietnam veteran as honorary guests,” said JR Romero, CNM VetSuccess Counselor.
Some of the speeches will be by veterans who will most likely be sharing memories and stories from their time in the service, Fatta said.
It is important to make everyone on campus aware of Veterans Awareness Week, she said.
“Showing that we support veterans is a way that the community can see that they do have a lot of support and they are honored and remembered every year,” she said.
The events assist our veterans with acknowledgement of a job well done, Romero said.
They are hoping that attendees recognize all the sacrifices of the veterans to duty and country, he said.
“I think it is so important for us to never forget the sacrifices our veterans and families have endured,” he said.
Some veterans are a lot younger than others and they also need to be recognized, Fatta said.
Veterans Awareness Week can facilitate relationships between all veterans, she said.
It allows organizations to provide resources for veterans as well, Romero said.
“John F. Kennedy once said ‘a nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces, but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers’,” Romero said.
“We are encouraged by these words, and we as Veterans know our own personal sacrifices, and it is great to have others spend some time honoring Veterans,” he said.
They are expecting a good turn out from students and veterans and a larger group of people to be at each of the five ceremonies than in previous years, Fatta said.
They are also hoping that passerby come in and stay for the ceremony as well, she said.
They hope that the entire student body, staff and faculty will participate in the events, especially the flag event on Nov. 11, Romero said.
Starting on Monday, Nov.10 we will provide coffee and cookies for veterans and their dependents on Main, Montoya and Westside campuses from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and that will be outside the cafeteria areas, Fatta said.
“So veterans will just be able to come up and we’ll give thanks to them and hand them coffee and cookies at that event,” she said.
On Tuesday, Nov.11 they are going to have a flag ceremony on Main campus that is going to start at 10 a.m. in front of the SRC flagpole and the Kirkland Air Force Base Honor Guard will be presenting the colors, she said.
They will be followed by the Dean of Students, the Director of the Regional Office Chris Norton and a Female Wounded Warrior Christian Barden, she said.
And they will have special, honorable guests that are World War II and Vietnam women veterans, she said.
For Wednesday, Nov. 12 they will have the flag ceremony at Montoya campus near the flagpole from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. and it will be the same schedule of events for that, she said.
Thursday, Nov. 13 they will have the flag ceremony at the Westside campus from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. and at the South Valley campus from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and it will be a similar ceremony with the guests they invited, she said.
