SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 53

46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2004

INTRODUCED BY

Carlos R. Cisneros

A JOINT MEMORIAL

ACKNOWLEDGING THE IMPORTANCE OF RECOGNIZING THE COURAGE AND SACRIFICE OF NEW MEXICO BATAAN VETERANS AND BATAAN VETERANS FROM ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.

     WHEREAS, the national guard of New Mexico is the oldest continuing militia group in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, the people of many villages all across New Mexico suffered the loss of loved ones, friends and fellow citizens during World War II, most noticeably and heroically during the fall of the Philippines and the subsequent Bataan death march; and

     WHEREAS, Taos is the former home of the 200th coastal artillery, which found itself in the Philippines during the war's opening months; and

     WHEREAS, the Bataan veterans were in the most decorated unit of World War II; and

     WHEREAS, there are sixty Bataan veterans in New Mexico, and Taos wants to honor them, their deceased buddies, their fellow comrades and their wives and families on May 8 and 9, 2004; and

     WHEREAS, Taos plans an intergenerational celebration and platform for education and reflection, featuring the showing of the documentary film "Colors of Courage"; and

     WHEREAS, "Colors of Courage", directed by three-time Emmy award winners Tony Martinez and Scott Henry, tells the story of the notorious Bataan death march, putting it into both global and local context; and

     WHEREAS, the film follows Manuel Armijo and Evan Garcia as they return to the Philippines for the first time since the war; and

     WHEREAS, the film was funded by Dr. Tobias Duran, director of the university of New Mexico's center for regional studies in Albuquerque;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that acknowledgment and congratulations be given to those communities that recognize the courage and sacrifice of the Bataan veterans and their importance to the state; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the mayor of Taos and the chairman of the New Mexico veterans' service commission.

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