New Mexico Veterans' Memorial

 Relax, and reflect! All the details -- from the type of flowers or trees, to the tables in the picnic area -- at the New Mexico Veterans' Memorial in Albuquerque were meticulously chosen to illustrate the military servicemembers' journey through our nation's wars and to allow veterans, their families, and others to reflect on their own personal experiences.

The memorial garden's 25 acres includes a visitor center with a museum and a hall with a capacity for 150 people and an adjoining small amphitheater, a large amphitheater that seats 3,500 people, a parade field and seven venues depicting a servicemember's experience. The museum is open Friday through Monday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on other days for special occasions. The grounds are open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

The process for the memorial began in the 1980s under Mayor Louis Saavadra and construction began in 1995. The City of Albuquerque held a design competition in 1992. The selected design team included Tina Reames, who was then interning at what is now Cherry/See/Reames Architects as well as the senior architect with the firm Edie Cherry, landscape architect, G. Robert Johns, and sculptor, Jesús Moroles, won hands-down, said Retired Army Colonel Roger Knight, board member for the New Mexico Veterans Memorial Foundation. Before drafting her design, Reames, whose father is an Army veteran who fought in the Vietnam War, took time to interview veterans on a frequent basis to get their input on what the memorial should depict, Knight said.

"It is set up in such a way that when a soldier travels the seven venues it will evoke memories," Knight said.

The journey starts at the visitor center that is designed to look like the barracks that many soldiers considered home while enlisted. The walk through history begins with Colonial New Mexico and continues through World Wars I and II, the Korean and Cold Wars, Vietnam War and into the Iraq War, all told from a New Mexico perspective.

Rose gardens are scattered throughout the park and all of the roses are varieties named after things that are significant to veterans. There are the Veterans' Honor Roses, Silver Star Roses, Bronze Star Roses, Peace Roses and seven World War II rose bushes in the Pearl Harbor section symbolizing the December 7th attack. "It was amazing when I was researching all the roses," Reames said. "I thought, 'Wow!' These would work perfectly."

The walk continues to the seven venues that depict the soldier’s experience. The first station, The Call, includes the Peace Rose Garden with a simple, arched white wall displaying a plaque with an engraved poem which reminisces about the experience of joining the military. "This is to make you think about how you came into the service -- knowing that life will be different after that," Reames said.

Next is The Preparation with an arched wall designed to look either like the side of a submarine or the walls of the trenches -- depending on the viewers' memories. In the garden on top of the wall, engraved boulders remind us of the steps soldiers go through in their training with sayings like "Cleaning your weapon," "Training," and "Anticipation."

The Fallen Friends section has tall white pillars erected in three circles with the pillers of each circle shorter toward the center of the circle. Depending on how you interpret it, the design could either be like looking at tombstones, or the soldiers who stand tall in the beginning and the size goes down as the soldiers fall, Reames said. Tall weeping willow trees surround the Fallen Soldiers Monument designed by G. Robert Johns.

- by Julie Medina, Albuquerque Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Julie Medina

Julie Medina has experience as a reporter at the Albuquerque Journal and has written freelance articles for the Albuquerque Tribune, Albuquerque the Magazine, New Mexico Magazine and New Mexico Kids Magazine. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in print journalism from the University of New Mexico in 2008. She has lived in Albuquerque since 1984 and believes it is best to remember to play like a tourist in your own hometown so you don't forget the vast culture around you.