by Bill Maddick
VETERAN ’ S CORNER
Legion Post 22 , the Mayor of Northglenn and Four MCs Pay Tribute to the Aranda Family
On Saturday , January 16 , the mayor of Northglenn ; Joyce Downing , accompanied by four motorcycle clubs ( Buffalo Soldiers MC , Smokin Guns MC , Rogue Soldiers MC and Martial Justice MC ), paid tribute to the military service of the Aranda family . Yet , the only family member who was there has never been in the military . How could that happen ? Well , its because of ceiling tiles . Yep ..., ceiling tiles .
Legion Post 22 banned smoking within its building , a few years ago , about the time that Colorado banned smoking in restaurants . But instead of replacing all the smoke stained ceiling tile all at once , somebody suggested that the tile be replaced individually with each tile being dedicated to a member or veteran of the Armed Forces . The idea was accepted and now about half the tile in the bar area of the post have been replaced accordingly . And this is where Adolpho " Bogey " Aranda enters the story .
Bogey never has been a member of the US Armed Forces himself , but he comes from a family who have distinguished themselves by their service from Vietnam to the present . And being the all around likeable , gregarious kind of guy he is , he happened to find out from one of his brothers in the Smokin Guns MC about this little situation with the ceiling tile at Legion Post 22 . That sounded like a good idea to him , with his family history being what it is , so he decided to take the initiative in seeing how many ceiling tiles he might be able to get dedicated to his family .
His journey started , of course , at the Legion Post , which pledged all the help and support they could give to his initiative . Then , since none of his family members live in Colorado , he had to do some research and provide verifiable service records for his military family members , a chore with which the Legion assisted ( I can attest that this is not the easiest thing to accomplish even when vested with the task of a personal record but Bogey accomplished this for four other people ). So with the blessing of the Legion Post and with verifiable military records in hand , he then approached the mayor and city council of Northglenn to request a commemoration , which was granted . And that ' s how it comes to pass that four family members can be awarded a tribute without actually being there .
So at 3PM on Saturday , January 16 , the ceremony began with the Legion Color Guard rendering a three gun salute followed by taps . Upon moving back inside , colors were posted and the Commander began the ceremony by giving a moving explanation of the POW / MIA tribute that was conspicuously on display ( an empty place setting with a standard meal tray containing salt and a slice of lemon ), therein announcing that two more POW / MIAs had just been accounted for . Then Mayor Downing presented Bogey with the City of Northglenn ' s commemoration to the Aranda family by saying that it was an honor for her to be a part of the event and that the Aranda family was being commemorated for upholding the highest ideals of freedom and democracy . Then it was Bogey ' s turn to speak .
He gave a quick history of the Aranda family and then highlighted the four members who ' s ceiling tiles were being commemorated . One was dedicated to Rigo , a cousin , who was drafted at age nineteen and served in the USAR Control Group Division in Vietnam from 1967 through 1972 . Another was dedicated to his brother Alfonso who served with the US Air Force " Flying Tigers " tactical squadron from 1980 through 1984 . A third tile was dedicated to his cousin Fernando who served with the Army Engineers from 1989 through 1997 . And the fourth was dedicated to his cousin Gloria who served thirty five years in the US Army military police .
www . thunderroadscolorado . com February 2016 Thunder Roads Magazine ® Colorado 17