{"id":43804,"date":"2021-11-12T00:07:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-12T07:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/veterans-day-parade-sees-large-crowd-in-cortez\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:15:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:15:41","slug":"veterans-day-parade-sees-large-crowd-in-cortez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/veterans-day-parade-sees-large-crowd-in-cortez\/","title":{"rendered":"Veterans Day Parade sees large crowd in Cortez"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Veterans
Veterans Day was celebrated in Cortez with a parade Thursday. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Veterans in uniform marched and drove down Montezuma Avenue to adoring waves and cheers during the Cortez Veterans Day Parade.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s event, sponsored by the Ute Mountain Ute American Legion Post No. 75, was larger than last year\u2019s, said event chairman Mike Brunk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis community shows a lot of support for us veterans; it\u2019s appreciated\u201d said Tom Reed, a U.S. Navy veteran who served in the Persian Gulf War. He was stationed on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.<\/p>\n

\"Veteran
Veteran Tom Reed and friends Cyrstal Overson and Corena Hampton get ready to participate in the Veterans Day Parade. Their float features pictures of local veterans. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A float honors local veteran Bill Robison, \"Sarge,\" who recently passed away. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)
A float honors local veteran Bill Robison, \"Sarge,\" who recently passed away. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Military
Military equipment parades down Montezuma Avenue for Veterans Day. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kids
Kids and adults came out to honor military service at the Cortez Veteran's Day parade. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Ute Mountain veterans and color guards participated in the parade along with the Cortez Police Department, Cortez Fire Protection District, Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office, Colorado State Patrol, Montezuma County Veterans Affairs and other emergency responders.<\/p>\n

The day was especially meaningful for the loved ones of Air Force veteran Bill Robison, 78, who died Wednesday, the day before the parade.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a Patriot. He was an American hero,\u201d said Mindy Nelson.<\/p>\n

She said he was a beloved part of the community and loved by children \u2013 especially to children, as he attended school board meetings and offered them rides in the back of his truck during Patriot rallies on Main Street last summer.<\/p>\n

An Army truck was lined with signs and decorations honoring his legacy.<\/p>\n

Robison\u2019s daughter, Cynthia, rode atop it.<\/p>\n

Montezuma County lost another veteran of World War II this year. Joseph Konyndyk, 96, of Mancos, died Oct. 10 at his home.<\/p>\n

Konyndyk was the last living crew member of a USS Landing Craft Support ship, an armored ship that helped defend other Navy ships and crew from in the South Pacific. The ship fought in the 1945 Battle of Okinawa, the last major battle of the war, and one of the bloodiest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery veteran here needs our respect,\u201d said Jeff Coulon. \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be here without them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ray Goodall, of Cortez, was in uniform for the parade. He served in the Navy from 1952-1960 as a quartermaster during the Korean War.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of my job was keeping the ship logs and updating and correcting navigational charts,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m glad to see people showing respect for veterans. If not for our veterans, our freedoms would go away.\u201d<\/p>\n

If a young person is unsure what to do in life, \u201cthey should look into the opportunities of the military,\u201d Goodall said.<\/p>\n

\"Local
Local marching bands participated in the Veteran's Day parade in Cortez. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span>Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lanette
Lanette Candelaria-Mitchell encourages local participation in the Greenlight a Vet movement. (Kala Parkinson\/The Journal)<\/span>Kala Parkinson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Veterans
Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary members honored Montezuma County veterans by displaying their portraits on a vehicle in the parade. (Kala Parkinson\/The Journal)<\/span>Kala Parkinson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A flyover from the Craig Taylor Flying Service of Pagosa Springs kicked off the parade.<\/span>Kala Parkinson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Montezuma-Cortez School District RE-1 middle and high school bands performed this year. They skipped last year\u2019s parade because of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

About 90 kids from the middle school were present, M-CMS Band Director Andrew Campo said.<\/p>\n

They performed a rendition of \u201cAnchors Aweigh,\u201d the U.S. Navy song. While rehearsals were halted because of a COVID outbreak and related school closures, the band was sent videos to practice the music, and caught up in the days leading up to the parade.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been working very hard the last three days to make up for lost time,\u201d Campo said.<\/p>\n

A lot of school groups attended the parade. Battle Rock School bused up 60 students, said teacher Moqui Mustainfury. In the morning, students heard presentations from local veterans.<\/p>\n

Veteran Andy Sanchez enjoyed the parade with his family. He served in the Army from 1950-1954 during the Korean War.<\/p>\n

\u201cServing overseas was better than boot camp,\u201d he joked. \u201cGuard duty was one of many challenges during the war.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the past three years, Lanette Candelaria-Mitchell has supported local participation in the \u201cGreenlight a Vet\u201d<\/a> movement spearheaded by Walmart, which encourages the public to support veterans by replacing a regular lightbulb with one that shines green.<\/p>\n

Candelaria-Mitchell embellished a truck \u2013 supplied by Candelaria Construction \u2013 with patriotic trimmings. The truck\u2019s bed was stocked with green lightbulbs to hand out to families, donated by Slavens True Value Hardware, Matthews Electric, and American Electric.<\/p>\n

She also orders banners to celebrate each year, although this year\u2019s main banner has not yet arrived. So, it will be hung on Main Street Monday through the rest of the month, said her husband, Dave Mitchell.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach year we try to add a little more,\u201d Mitchell said.<\/p>\n

He estimated they\u2019ve distributed about 1,300 green lightbulbs in the past three years.<\/p>\n

Both have family members who have served, he said.<\/p>\n

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, representing the family members of Montezuma County veterans, spent hours preparing a truck with portraits of local veterans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s important to show our veterans the respect that they don\u2019t get every day,\u201d said Corina Hampton with the VFW.<\/p>\n

Minutes before the parade\u2019s start at 1 p.m., the Craig Taylor Flying Service of Pagosa Springs soared over the hundreds honoring veterans on Montezuma Avenue.<\/p>\n

Participants<\/div>\n
Cortez Police Department.Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Veterans Group color guard and Ute Mountain Ute American Legion Post No. 75 color guard.Cortez Fire Protection District.Colorado State Patrol car and mobile van.Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office Mounted Patrol and Humvee.M-CHS Band and M-CMS band.Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary.Greenlight A Vet.Escalante Shrine Club.Clint Williams horse-drawn carriage.Montezuma County Patriots.Montezuma-Cortez School District Re-1 truck.True West Auto Center.Lighthouse Christian Academy students.Over the Hill Gang classic cars.Vista Grande Inn bus.Craig Taylor Flying Service of Pagosa Springs. <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hundreds line Montezuma Avenue to honor veterans<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,167,29,185,184],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-43804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-local-news-lead","tag-newsletter","tag-serving-veterans","tag-veterans-affairs"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43804"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85850,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43804\/revisions\/85850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43804"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=43804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}