The Memorial
Something sad today. And yet beautiful.
As you know, my current series is about our trip to New Mexico in October 2025. We had gone partly because we love the state, and partly because it was Martha’s birthday, and partly because we wanted to see the glorious golden foliage of cottonwood trees in autumn.
I had left off last time with us in Taos, and with a few memories of the place. That night-- this was Friday, Oct 17 -- we went to bed early after enjoying the little fire we’d made in the room’s lovely Pueblo style fireplace. The next day, we were up early, had a quick breakfast at the Hotel (actually pretty good), and then headed out.
This was the day we had plans to see the foliage. Martha had plotted a route for us. We would leave the city and go south and east along 64, through Shady Brook and Valle Escondido, then follow the road north to Angel Fire (a famous ski area), and from there to Eagle Nest, which is a small town in the mountains. If we had time, she thought (and in the end we didn’t), we would continue along 64 until we came to 38, and take that West to 522, and then back to Taos -- which would have taken us in a circle around Wheeler Peak.
Spoiler alert: we ran out of time, energy, and daylight, and ended up just making it to Eagle Nest and then turning around. Still, it was a terrific drive.
About the photos: several today. First, three exterior shots of the War Memorial. Then, inside the Memorial, the chapel. After that, me lighting a candle in the chapel. And, finally, the candle itself.
Anyway, we left, and almost immediately we were in the mountains, and with equal immediacy we saw golden trees...acre after acre of them. We took photos from the windows of the car. Then, we stopped and took more photos standing on the side of the road. A vast ocean of gold, flowing up hill, up mountains, all the way to the sky, or, if failing that, to the tree line.
I’ll post a few pictures. But, frankly, they will not convey what we felt...or what you would feel had you been there with us. It is impossible to explain the sublime. If you must try to do so, then you have already failed.
Suffice to say that we knew awe.
Anyway...
We drove further, following the winding mountain road, wondering what we’d see next. We assumed that the trees and mountains would be the highlight of our trip and that nothing could equal them. But, we were amazed, for something else was coming.
I believe it was I who was driving at the time. I looked up, and there, on a hilltop on the side of the road, was a vast white structure...or perhaps compound is the word I’m looking for. Whatever it was, it was utterly unexpected, and rather beautiful.
Out of curiosity we followed a road that led up to it. There, we realized, we had discovered something extraordinary. The structure was, we learned, the Angel Fire Vietnam Veterans Memorial.(*) It is an amazing structure, or rather, a group of structures, all of pure white and consisting of great sweeping curves, sending the viewer’s eyes upwards. It also overlooks a Veterans Cemetery in a magnificent mountain setting.
We parked and toured. We learned a little more about the place. It was established by Jeanne and Dr. Victor Westphall after their son died in action in May of 1968 in Vietnam. They had been planning, I’m told, to establish a tourist center in the area, but they chose instead to build a memorial to their child and to those who died in war. They called it “ the Vietnam Veterans Peace and Brotherhood Chapel.” Today, it includes the chapel itself, a visitors center, various pieces of art, a small but interesting museum, an amphitheater, and assorted historical exhibits--including a Huey helicopter.
We toured. It was both very sad and very beautiful.
I think the chapel itself was the most striking of the Memorial’s structures. I purchased a votive candle at the gift shop and lit it in the chapel...kneeling on the floor to do so...in memory of all those gone, and all those who had served--including some in my own family.
And we were overwhelmed.
Such is the power of sacrifice. And of memory.
Finally, and in silence, we took our leave...
More to come.
Footnote:
*For more on the memorial see the following:
• “Vietnam Veterans War Memorial (New Mexico),” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial_(New_Mexico)
• “Vietnam Veterans Memorial,” https://www.vietnamveteransmemorial.org
• Tania Casselle, “The Art of Healing,” New Mexico Magazine (blog), April 6, 2020, updated June 25, 2021, New Mexico Magazine, accessed January 5, 2026, https://www.newmexicomagazine.org/blog/post/vietnam-veterans-memorial/
Copyright©2026 Michael Jay Tucker
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