Center For American Values....Pueblo, Colorado

DATE:  April 2, 2016                                         

SITE:  Center For American Values

LOCATION:  101 S. Main Street, Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colorado

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS: 

“What extraordinary things ordinary people can do when they place service above self”

Set along the very pretty Pueblo Riverwalk was this interesting place. 

Now, now…don’t get all weirded out by the name of this place. This isn’t some ultra-conservative think tank or hideout or anything like that.

It is simply a place where Medal of Honor recipients are, well, honored. They seek to not only honor the recipients but to also educate all visitors about these amazing men. 

When you first walk in, you’ll notice that the walls are covered with pictures. Then you find out that each of those pictures represent a person who made extreme sacrifices to uphold the idea of freedom. 

So why is this in Pueblo, Colorado? Because they are known as the “City of Heroes”. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, upon awarding one recipient, stated “What is it in the water out there in Pueblo. All you guys turn out to be heroes”. 

They have portraits of 150+ recipients; each with a personal quote. Now this quote is totally up to the person, but can relate to the reason the medal was given, or values the person holds, or messages to the future. 

One thing I found fascinating…I’m sure every photographer struggles with choosing just the right picture and trying to get the person photographed to agree. This photographer, however, would choose his 3 best pictures and then let the person choose the one they wanted…How the person chose to be represented…how that person wants ME to see them. 

The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military honor awarded only to military personnel for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States”. 

There are 3 versions, Army, Air Force and Navy (Marines and Coast Guard are awarded the Naval medal).

The medal was established in 1861 for the Navy and 1862 for the Army.

In total, there have been 3,514 medals given to 3,495 persons since 1862. Why the difference? Because 19 people have been recognized twice! The nation’s highest honor and they received two.

Think about it, since 1862, there have been millions and millions of people who have served in our military, and in the 150 since the Medal of Honors existence, only 3,495 people have received it.

And because the Medal of Honor was the ONLY award available, just less than ½ of those medals were awarded for service during the 4 years of the Civil War.

There was some disagreement over whether the medals should be given at all. It was a very European tradition and it was early enough in our history that we were still trying to shed any vestiges of appearing to be European.

The tradition is for the President to present the award but the first 6 medals were presented by the Secretary of War to six Union Army volunteers on March 25, 1863. The men had hijacked a Confederate train. Unfortunately the leader, a civilian, was ineligible to receive a medal.

As the medal is only for military personnel, there are two ways a recipient can be nominated…one, by the approval of their military chain of command and the other by a member of Congress, normally on behalf of a constituent.

In 1917, after concern was expressed that there were honorees who had received medals for reasons other than distinguished service, a review board looked at and removed 911 medals from the honor roll. These included a group who simply reenlisted to guard the capital during the Civil War and 29 members of Abraham Lincoln’s funeral detail.

Since 1941, more than half the medals (61.5%) presented have been posthumously to the recipient’s family.

Finally, in 1963 there was clarification of the “acts” that must be performed in order to be nominated for the award

• While engaged in action against an enemy of the United States; or
• While engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or 
• While serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in with the United States is not a belligerent party

Just so you know, people are not just given the award and a nice “thanks” and then sent on their way. There are special privileges and courtesies that come along with it, such as…

• Receive a pension above and beyond military pensions
• Receives special entitlements in air transportation
• Eligibility for burial at Arlington National Cemetery
• Children are admitted to military academies regardless of nomination or quota’s
• Invited to all presidential inaugurations and inaugural balls

 

Those are by law, but in addition and I think this is really cool….members of the uniformed service are encouraged to render salutes to recipients as a matter of respect and courtesy regardless of rank or status…in or out of uniform. This would be one of the very few instances where someone may receive a salute from someone of higher rank.

Interesting facts about some recipients…

• There are 19 people who received the award twice…14 for separate actions and 5 who received both the Army and Navy medal for the same action
• Since WWII, 851 medals have been awarded with 523 of those posthumously
• One has been awarded to a woman, Mary Edwards Walker. In fact, hers was taken away during the 1917 review and then restored in 1977
• President Lincoln met privately with the first six soldiers to win the Honor
• There has been only one Coast Guardsman to receive the medal
• 65 Canadians have received the honor while serving in the U.S. military, most in the Civil War
• The youngest recipient was an 11 year old drummer in the Civil War (the youngest in the 20^th century was a 17 year old who shielded his fellow squad members from grenades)
• The 4 Unknowns entombed at Arlington are recipients of the medal…the Vietnam remains were identified and the family asked for the Medal of Honor assigned to those remains. The request was denied saying the award was for ALL Vietnam unknowns, not specifically this one.
• There are 5 foreign unknowns who have been designated with the Honor..British, French, Romanian, Italian and Belgian.
• Although the law says there must be an act of valor, there have been exceptions…Charles Lindbergh and Major General Adolphus Greeley
• The last person to receive two medals was in 1918
• There have been father and son recipients… Arthur MacArthur Jr. & Douglas MacArthur and also Theodore Roosevelt & Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
• Theodore Roosevelt is the only president to have received the Medal of Honor
• Five pairs of brothers have received the medal

The nomination and awarding of the Medal of Honor has not always been inclusive. Although a review was done in 1917, no one looked at whether some were being excluded for the reason of race, religion or sex.

A 1993 study to ensure that prejudice or discrimination had not deterred the nomination of some, it was found there were no medals awarded to any soldier of African American descent who served in WWII. Ten people who had received the Distinguished Service Cross were instead awarded the Medal of Honor.

A similar study in 1998 looked into the nomination, or lack thereof, for Asian Americans. In this case, the panel found 22 instances where the Medal of Honor should have been given and they were in 2000.

In 2014, as part of a Congressional mandated review, an additional 24 medals were given to Hispanic, Jewish and African Americans.

 I read several things about how the law protects someone saying they received the award, the wearing of the medal, and even how it’s made. Special protections under U.S. law makes it illegal for any unauthorized adornment, sale or manufacture. Curiously, since a Supreme Court decision in the early 2000’s, said it is illegal to wear a medal you were not awarded BUT you can say you received one without actually having done so.

A politician in California…figures…declared he was the recipient of the Medal of Honor. When it was found that he hadn’t, he was sentenced to jail time. He took his case all the way to the Supreme Court who ruled that his First Amendment “free speech” rights had been violated and the sentence was struck down. You’re kidding…apparently lying about receiving the highest honor in the military is protected by the First Amendment. All I can do is shake my head in bewilderment.

Not everyone may agree that we should have fought the wars, or conflicts, that the U.S. have been involved with…but you have to agree that these men took up arms when asked to by their country. They left their families and normal life and fought for the idea of freedom. These men, whose pictures line these walls, are the heroes we should be looking up to.

The Petrified Forest & Painted Desert - Apache & Navajo Co., Arizona

DATE:  July 6, 2015

HISTORICAL SITE:  Petrified Forest National Park

LOCATION:  Apache & Navajo Co., Arizona

MARKER #:  75000217 & 76000185 & 87001421 & 05000284

DEDICATED:  October 10, 1975 & July 12, 1976 & May 28, 1987 & April 15, 2005

"This property has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior   1976   Newspaper Rock Petroglyphs Archaeological District"

"Painted Desert Inn has been designated a National Historic Landmark   This site possesses National significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America   1987   National Park Service   United States Department of the Interior"

"This property has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior   2005   Painted Desert Community Complex Historic District"

MARKER PLACED BY:  National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS: 

I was surprised to find out that although Dirk was born and raised in Arizona, he has never visited the Petrified Forest or Painted Desert. I remember my parents taking us as little girls and for some reason that has stuck with me and is the driving force behind my desire to see this area again.

While not as breathtaking as the Grand Canyon, you can see similarities and this place can still stop you in your tracks with its beauty.

At one point, Dirk and I were just standing and looking. We'd said all the oooh's and ahhh's and were quiet. I looked over at Dirk and he had this look on his face I have seen before and am in awe of. I'm not sure how to describe it other than to say it is joy and the quietness of a soul...if that makes sense. He then looked at me and said "God did good".

While it's officially the Petrified Forest National Park, the northern end extends into the Painted Desert and is known for fossilized trees from the late Triassic period, about 225 million years ago.

In the late 1800's, concern grew over the number of tourists visiting and removing artifacts. Arizona asked the U.S. government to create a Petrified Forest National Park.

Like the Grand Canyon, the journey to national park wasn't easy and like the Grand Canyon, Roosevelt had to use the Antiquities Act of 1906 to create the Petrified Forest National Monument in 1932 and finally it became a National Park in 1962. Several successive presidents have signed legislation to acquire additional land where the size is currently 218,533 acres.

As part of the super continent of Pangaea, this area was near the equator and had a sub-tropical climate.

Paleontologists have been working in the park since the early 20th century, finding Triassic plants, but also giant crocodile like reptiles called phytosaurs, large salamander like amphibians called Buettneria and early dinosaurs.

It is the same sediments that buried the tree's so they could fossilize, that has caused the Painted Desert is be so colorful and that sediment is estimated to be up to 800 feet deep.

There have been nine species of fossil trees identified here...all extinct. Driving through the park, you can see remnants of the tree's all over the place, some denser than others.

The sediment is also easily weathered giving the landscape its cliffs, gullies and rounded hills.

The earliest humans arrived at least 8,000 years ago. Mostly nomadic until about 2,000 years ago when humans built pueblos and were growing corn here.

As the climate changed, people moved out but more than 600 sites have been found to be archaeologically significant, including the petroglyphs site called Newspaper Rock.

The Hopi nation call it "Tutuveni" and the petroglyphs show the history of the Hopi Indian tribe carved into stone. The area contains about 5,000 petroglyphs estimated to be between 650 and 2,000 years old.

In 2008, Newspaper Rock was included on the Worlds Monument Watch List of endangered cultural sites. Sadly, along with the ancient petroglyphs is the graffiti of today. $100,000.00 later, the site is surrounded by a chain link fence and monitored by hidden cameras.

 
Until the 16th century, the only inhabitants were indigenous people. Then the Spaniards discovered this area while exploring Mexico and the southwest.

The first U.S. survey was in 1853, made by American explorers looking for good east to west routes. Soon a wagon trail was "built"...is that the right word? What do you call it..."carved" a wagon trail?

Homesteaders settled in the area and their cattle grazed within the borders of the park until the mid-20th century. Next came the railroad and finally, constant car traffic on Route 66 and now Interstate 40.

There are 3 sites designated as historical, the main complex, the petroglyphs and finally...the Painted Desert Inn.

Back in the 1920's, Herbert Lore built a tourist shop, lunch counter and trading post on the Kachina rim. In 1932, the U.S. government proclaimed the Painted Desert a national monument. Lore negotiated $59,400.00 out of the U.S. government for his land and building. $60k in 1932? Not bad at all.

The original inn was built using the petrified wood from the park and was called Stone Tree House. Using the parks natural resources was a bit frowned upon so they rebuilt the inn; that being completed by the Conservation Corps in 1937.

Ok, this is strange to me but they didn't want to use the parks resources that were ALREADY being used so they tear it down and use other natural resources. Maybe less scarce but I bet that petrified wood was going to last forever.

Hopi artist Fred Kabotie was hired to paint scenes of everyday Hopi life and ceremonies on the walls of the Inn. 

There was a bit more remodeling right after the war and it was used as a railway hotel from 1947 to 1963 and finally destruction was discussed in the mid-70's.

Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed and after major renovations, the inn reopened in 2006 as a museum. You walk through the building and can appreciate the craftsmanship and the painting, but then you look up and there is a beautiful stained glass ceiling.

I'm really glad we got the opportunity to see one of the U.S.'s beautiful National Park.