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