Local events to honor the fallen on Memorial Day
May 25—Those who wish to honor fallen service members this Memorial Day will be in good company, whether at a parade in Albuquerque or a ceremony in Rio Rancho.
On Monday in Albuquerque, there will be a parade at 8 a.m. from San Mateo, east on Gibson, to the New Mexico Veterans Memorial Park, 1100 Louisiana SE. There, the Dukes of Albuquerque Concert Band will play music until the traditional ceremony kicks off at 10 a.m.
During the event, the city will also debut a new World War II correspondents memorial, a $250,000 grant-funded project highlighting the lives of war journalist Ernie Pyle and editorial cartoonist Bill Mauldin.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury and high-ranking officials from Kirtland Air Force Base and the National Guard, among others, will be in attendance.
Around the same time, a ceremony will be taking place in Rio Rancho.
The remembrance will take place at 10 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial Park, 950 Pinetree SE. The event will include the laying of a wreath to honor the fallen soldiers and a gun salute.
During the Rio Rancho ceremony, a set of military boots representing fallen service members from each military branch will be on display — placed in military formation with a soldier's portrait alongside each one.
The ceremony and boot display, described in an event news release as a "powerful, temporary memorial," are put on by several local groups, including the Marine Corps League — Rocky Mountain Division and Women Veterans of New Mexico.
