El Paso honors Vietnam and Native American Veterans
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) - March 29th is designated as National Vietnam War Veterans Day. This year is the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War and El Pasoans gathered at Old Glory Memorial in Northeast El Paso to honor Vietnam War Veterans.
The Old Glory Memorial includes a monument with the names of over 300 soldiers on it, keeping their memory and sacrifice alive.
''This is a gathering of Vietnam vets, we feel like for a long time we have been ignored by the population, not just here in El Paso but it was bad a long time ago,'' said Jesus Vera Jr., a local veteran.
The first Native American Veterans Memorial will be installed next to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The community gathered the funding for this through fundraising efforts and donations from the community.
Saturday veterans and the community took the time to break ground on the new memorial.
''Its gonna take a little bit of time. And hopefully with the help of the El Paso ands the help of our native brothers. They will get this done as soon as possible,'' Rod Rodriguez who is a member of The Grey Wolf Warrior Society who came up with the idea and concept for this memorial. ''Because they deserve to be honored and not forgotten.''
Native Americans have participated in every major major conflict that the U.S. has participated in through the years. Supporters say these veterans have had to go through discrimination in every one of these conflicts, but they remain proud of their history with the U.S. Military.
They served as soldiers and scouts, and did not let discrimination stop them from defending their country, according to a veteran at the ceremony.
