The Color Guard that led the annual parade stands at attention at the ceremony during the Veterans Day tribute.

MONTE VISTA— A few hundred folks came out Saturday morning to observe the fifth annual Veterans Day parade as it wove through downtown Monte Vista in honor of military veterans. A poignant tribute followed at Faith Hinkley Veterans Memorial Park that included the smooth vocals of Frankie Rivera singing the National Anthem, opening remarks by Monte Vista Mayor Dale Becker and an invocation by Father Derrek Scott of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.
The relatively new but now-iconic parade was the vision some years ago of Monte Vista resident and veteran Bob Bryning. “It was his dream to do some type of tribute to the veterans in our community,” said former mayor Debbie Garcia, who volunteers on a two-person Veteran’s Day Parade and Tribute committee to organize the event each year.
The deaths of two young soldiers in Iraq, with roots in Monte Vista, also served as inspiration.
Sgt. Glen Martinez was just 31 years old when he was killed alongside three other Marines after a roadside bomb hit their Humvee in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq in 2008. Army Sgt. Faith R. Hinkley was only 23 years old when she succumbed to wounds sustained during an insurgent attack on her unit in 2010. “For as small as our Valley is, we have a lot of veterans,” Garcia said. “There was a feeling that we needed to do something in our community to recognize these men and women.”
Fundraising for the memorial park began not long after Hinkley’s death. The park’s centerpiece includes a black-granite stone that honors veterans, flanked by two granite stones paying tribute to Hinkley and Martinez. There are also benches, a shaded picnic area and flags representing the United States, Colorado, the five branches of the military, and one paying tribute to prisoners of war and soldiers still missing in action.
Monte Vista’s first Veterans Day parade was held just prior to the memorial park’s dedication in 2014. “We ended the parade there and dedicated the park,” Garcia said, “and had the clergy, as kind of a blessing for the park.” Still to come once funding is secured are five additional granite stones slated for installation next to each flag representing the five military branches. The stones will have the names of soldiers engraved from that branch who were killed in action.  
This year’s parade kicked off with the Color Guard followed by Kelly Deacon’s classic cherry red Oldsmobile carrying passengers Ron Martinez and Dave and Annavee Hinkley---the parents of Glen Martinez and Faith Hinkley. Other parade participants included former senator Lewis Entz, Marine veteran Art Garcia, the Veterans Community Living Center at Homelake, the Monte Vista Middle School Band, Jim & Raina Bowsher, the Monte Vista Kiwanis Club, Fast Friends, the Monte Vista High School Band and Monte Vista Ambulance.
After the parade, a healthy crowd gathered at Faith Hinkley Veterans Memorial Park for a special tribute to military veterans. Mayor Dale Becker welcomed attendees, presented a brief history of Veterans Day and honored past and present family members and friends who served in the military. “Our military men and women deserve our utmost respect for their sacrifices and willingness to serve,” said Becker. “So, if you’ll please, I would like you to do this on this solemn day.”
Prayers and bible verses were presented by six local churches, and this year’s guest speaker was Senator Larry Crowder, himself an Army veteran who served in Vietnam. Brandi Quinn from Adams State University closed the tribute with “Taps.”
But perhaps the most moving moments came with the ringing of the bell to honor veterans, which began with Ron Martinez ringing it five times for each branch of service. After Quinn played “Taps,” people from the crowd were invited to come forward to speak their loved one’s name and ring the bell. Voices cracked and tears flowed behind sunglasses as name after name was spoken into the mic. It was obvious that the 20 or so people who came forward were but a small representation of the true number of people who know someone who has served in the military.   
The Veterans Day Parade and Tribute committee added the bell-ringing to last year’s tribute after recognizing its profound value during Homelake’s annual Memorial Day program, where it has been a longstanding tradition but with a much larger bell. The Homelake History Museum lent a smaller bell to the parade committee for the Veterans Day tribute.
On Sunday, Homelake held its annual Veterans Day program and social event. Keynote speaker Jack Rudder, the veteran’s service officer for Rio Grande County, “talked about what Veterans Day is all about and thanked all the veterans for their service,” said admissions and marketing director Pam Self. “He also talked about his grandfather, who served in WWI, and read a letter that he had written to his girlfriend at the time, who was eventually Jack’s grandma, stating that he had safely made the journey to France.” Rudder also displayed his grandfather’s WWI victory medal.
The program also included a reading of the famous WWI poem “In Flanders Field,” as well as a performance of the armed forces medley and a WWI display put together by curator of the Homelake Museum, Jean Rhett. Musician Darren Montoya closed the program with a moving rendition of “Proud to be an American.”
“I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house,” Self said.