Letter to the editor

Simply stated, we need some help. The veterans of our community deserve to be buried with the honors befitting the service they gave to our country. For years, the Carlsbad Veterans Honor Guard has stepped up and shown up. Our priority always is to bestow honor upon our fallen comrades. We are called upon to present the flag to the deceased’s loved ones, play taps on the bugle and when we can, execute a 21-shot gun salute. We work closely with the funeral homes to make sure our uniformed presence is available to serve the family. But our Guard membership is dwindling. We are getting older and as our membership drops and numbers of funerals increase, we are being stretched thinner and thinner. At this point, we often do not have enough members available to conduct the gun salute at the funerals. For many years, we have been called upon to serve the community in other ways. We provide an honor guard for the posting of colors at special events and holidays, we lead parades and we try, as we always have, to answer calls of duty. This letter is a request for help. If you are a veteran, or know a veteran, that would be interested in serving with the Carlsbad Veterans Honor Guard, please contact us. We will continue to serve as long as we possibly can but we must build our membership to ensure that our veterans receive the last honors they so richly deserve well into the future. Memorial Day we will be leading the parade In honor of our deceased veterans, please feel free to join us. Will you answer another call for duty?

Contact: Commander Adon Rodriguez at 575-200-6236

Elizabeth Aguilar 575-988-2205

James Armstrong. 575-706-2233