Colorado VII

Driving south from Colorado Springs and Pueblo we (if I haven't mentioned it earlier, my buddy Steve was on this trip with me) were forced off the road by the raging wildfires in Arizona and New Mexico. The road was closed at Trinidad which lies about 20 miles north of the border with New Mexico. As luck would have it, Trinidad, where we were forced off, was our destination, any further south and we would have been out of luck.

We met a fellow vet in town and he took us to the memorial which sits at the visitors center. He pointed out that the front of the memorial is dedicated to those who were lost and the reverse honors all who served. I always like it when a site can do that.

The third photo shows a dedication from the Vietnamese community at the base of the memorial. I have run across several of these in my travels. To me, they seem fitting, but I have met other vets (not in Trinidad) who do not think them appropriate. It saddens me that the pain goes on and is so deep for so many.

In addition, a smaller memorial was added after names that were left off the original were discovered. The sides have a number of additional names added and space for any additional names that may surface. The last photo is a close-up of the top of this second memorial.

I am often astonished at what some towns will do. In 1999 Trinidad had a population of under 10,000 and yet they had the desire and commitment to honor these heroes. It must not have been easy to accomplish this project and it does great honor to the town that they were determined to make this happen.

I did a little research on Trinidad and discovered that in the 1880's Bat Masterson was the sheriff! When I was a kid one of my favorite TV shows was Bat Masterson starring Gene Barry. Amazing what the mind retains!!

From here I move on to Gunnison and a nice site in a city park.