HOUSE MEMORIAL 54

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2014

INTRODUCED BY

Cathrynn N. Brown

A MEMORIAL

DEMONSTRATING SUPPORT OF THE STATE VETERANS CEMETERY PROGRAM AS PROPOSED BY THE VETERANS' SERVICES DEPARTMENT.

     WHEREAS, Eddy county is well known for its support of and respect for veterans, the importance of veterans to the fabric of American society and the sacrifices veterans make for all Americans; and

     WHEREAS, Eddy county has the tenth-largest veteran population in the state, numbering about four thousand three hundred veterans; and

     WHEREAS, Carlsbad, the county seat of Eddy county, has a long military history, specifically the forced participation of many Carlsbad residents in the Bataan Death March; and

     WHEREAS, Carlsbad was home to the Carlsbad army air field, which played a vital role in the World War II war effort; and

     WHEREAS, it is the stated desire of the United States department of veterans affairs to provide a burial site for every veteran in a veterans cemetery that is within seventy-five miles of the home of the veteran; and

     WHEREAS, there is no veterans cemetery within one hundred sixty-five miles of Carlsbad, and no veterans cemetery in New Mexico within two hundred sixty-five miles of Carlsbad; and

     WHEREAS, there are large expanses of New Mexico, in Eddy county and the Carlsbad region, that are underserved by appropriate veterans cemeteries; and

     WHEREAS, the veterans' services department has done preliminary site surveys at eleven statewide locations, including in Carlsbad; and

     WHEREAS, the dedication to this effort leaves no doubt that the needs of all New Mexico veterans will be met by a state-supported state veterans cemetery program;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the state veterans cemetery program as proposed by the veterans' services department be fully supported; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the city of Carlsbad, Eddy county, the governor, the secretary of veterans' services, the United States secretary of veterans affairs and the co-chairs of the New Mexico legislative council.