15th Annual Veterans Healing Field of Honor

Questa will celebrate its 15th annual Healing Field of Honor Memorial Day weekend with a ceremony planned Sunday (May 26) at 1 p.m.

The idea came in 2003 when Charlie Gonzales was Questa’s mayor and Brent Jaramillo was the village administrator. They were attending a conference in Indiana where Colonial Flag, a nonprofit company from Sandy, Utah, made a presentation about a field of flags that they started to honor the fallen officers and firemen who lost their lives in the 9/11 attack. The mayor and council at that time felt that it would be a way for the village of Questa to honor veterans from our community (Questa, Cerro, Costilla, Amalia, San Cristóbal and Lama) who served in the seven different conflicts that the United States has participated in. The field also honors those currently serving as well. At that time our local 1115th National Guard Transportation Unit was being deployed to Iraq for the first time and the mayor and council wanted to honor them in a special way.

The field (off State Road 522, north of the Chevron gas station) is now open to anyone who would like to purchase a flag for a loved one for a minimal cost to cover the materials. This event requires many hands to make it a reality every year; the committee is dependent on volunteers.

The Claudio Rael family has donated the use of their field every year and John Rael has taken on the role of watering the field and getting it prepped for the big event. Chevron Mining and Entact have taken on the role of putting up and taking down the flags and donating the use of the lights at night. Many others have contributed to keep the healing field going.