Two Barelas, NM Heroes gave their lives in an unpopular war and the local community gathered in April, 1970 to dedicate a park to the Marines. Sgt Pete Padilla and Pfc Manuel Mora volunteered, served, and died in Viet Nam. It shocked their families when the park was bulldozed for the National Hispanic Cultural Center in February 1999, but it continues to wound the families as parents fall prey to old age. No one asked the families if it were ok, or even told them it would be done. It has cost $50 Million to raze the park honoring 2 Heroes and build the center honoring Atzlans.
Since then, the families have been fighting the foundation to honor their sons, with a trail of broken promises. The current promise is to put the parks on 4 acres behind the buildings, along a ditch, costing $250,000. The bids are in for the promise, but an earlier plan was to name the amphitheater or the torreon, which was instead named for Manny Aragon, a former politician, now in jail for fraud. Sure, they removed his name after he was convicted, but it says alot about priorities when two Marines names are bulldozed, and a fraudulent politician is honored.
Eleven years later, the families of these Marines live on hope that this promise won't be broken. It won't be what they once had, but it's better than the nothing they've been given as change for progress in the meantime.
Stumble It!
