Veteran planning War on Terror memorial in Angel Fire
KOB 4 News
Morgan Aguilar
July 05, 2017
At his wellness and healing center, Howe wants to create a space for veterans with PTSD along with programs for vets who have experienced sexual trauma while in the military. He'd like to eventually offer programs for first responders too.
ANGEL FIRE, N.M. -- It looks like New Mexico will have a War on Terror memorial long before Washington, D.C. A Vietnam veteran living in Angel Fire is spending his retirement turning a northern New Mexico property into a place for veterans from all over the country.
Chuck Howe has big plans for the site, an 18-acre plot right across from the Vietnam veteran's memorial. He said he plans to build the War on Terror memorial, a wellness and healing center for veterans and a hotel.
"One of the things that we always talk about with any war memorial or museum is how do you keep it relevant in the future? So many of our Vietnam vets are going to be gone, so what's going to keep people coming here?" Howe said.
read more here
Angel Fire chapel honors lives lost in Vietnam
KOB 4 News
Joseph Lynch
May 26, 2017
For some veterans, every day is Memorial Day. Some are haunted by all they've experienced, by who and what they lost. In some wars, they came home as heroes. That was not the case for Vietnam veterans. Many now suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
ANGEL FIRE, N.M. -- U.S. Marine 1st Lt. Victor David Westphal III died in May 1968. After Westphal's death, his parents began the construction of the Vietnam Veterans Peace and Brotherhood Chapel in Angel Fire.
The chapel was built to be an enduring symbol of the tragedy and futility of war, and it has become a place where people come from near and far to look for peace.
Earl Watters came from Rio Rancho. For him, this place is personal.
"Well, the first thing that comes to mind is all those who lost their lives," he said.
Nearly 60,000 servicemen and servicewomen lost their lives fighting in Vietnam. The memorial in Angel Fire was the first of its kind in the country to honor those Americans.
Allan Ford and his family came from Pensacola, Florida to Angel Fire. He remembers those who gave so much, and especially those who gave everything.
"A lot of my buds, Army buds, were all Vietnam veterans," he said. "They got nothing when they got home, so something like this it's very meaningful to them, very meaningful."
The Angel Fire chapel was created 11 years before the memorial in Washington. But surprisingly, it's only been in recent years folks have come to acknowledge that war. All those years ago, Watters remembers coming back with no welcome home at all.
read more here
