Put your politics aside.
That’s the message Elise Wheeler wanted to send this Veterans Day.
The director of the Veterans Resource Center (VRC) said the holiday is meant to honor servicemen and women — and that’s it.
“It’s not about if you disagree or agree with the polices of a given administration,” Wheeler said. “It’s about the individual who said, when they raise their right hand, ‘I do solemnly swear I will support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.’”
UNM honored veterans in different ways Thursday.
To start the day, the ROTC color guard raised the U.S. flag before proceeding into the UNM Alumni Chapel. There, the names of 112 New Mexican killed in action soldiers were called one by one.
Student Veterans of UNM honored men and women who have served by conducting its third annual “Miles of Coins” event. The group collects coins year around and tries to reach more than a mile of coins, which are displayed at Smith Plaza. The money benefits the student veterans’ scholarship.
So far, the group has given six scholarships totaling more than $3,000 the past three years, said Joey Diaz, president of Student Veterans of UNM. He said the group helps veterans transition from military life to student life.
“UNM has become more veteran friendly than what I feel they have been in the past, and I think it’s a good place now,” Diaz said. “There is a bigger community of veterans on campus, and we are starting to organize ourselves.”
The VRC also showed “Lioness,” a documentary about a U.S. Marine combat unit that was ambushed in Ramadi, Iraq, while searching houses for Iraq insurgents. The movie highlights women’s contributions to the war.
Before the signing of the Women’s Armed Service Integration Act in 1948, women were banned from ground combat, according to the VRC.
Maria Veronica Yzeta, a U.S. Army veteran, said women were restricted even after earning the right to serve in 1948.
“Women have been in combat for a lot longer than anybody wants to admit and the government wants to admit simply because of social views on women, but I think it is changing,” she said.
While remembering past contributions, Veterans Day is also about future vets.
ROTC Cadet Lamar Cravens attended Thursday’s services. He is training to be a U.S. Army officer.
Cravens said he has been called to serve.
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“It’s great to do something way bigger than yourself,” he said.
