N.M. Vietnam vets gathering photos for memorial

SANTA FE — When Henry Urioste was asked to help with a project to locate photos of all New Mexicans killed in Vietnam, he quickly volunteered, thinking it would be a simple, quick task.

Instead, tracking down 400 photos of the fallen turned out to be very emotional work.

“We thought it was going to be easy, and it was hard the hardest, most heartbreaking and emotional thing,” he said.

A local group of Vietnam veterans, part of the Northern New Mexico chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, has collected about 350 of the veterans’ photos since February. The group is assembling them to send to a veterans memorial in Washington, D.C., and to the Vietnam Veterans National Memorial in Angel Fire as well. Veterans in each state are working on the project, as a way to put a face with each name listed on the Vietnam Wall in Washington.

To collect the rest, the group is seeking the public’s help. Many of the missing photos are of soldiers from southern and western New Mexico. The group has found pictures of all 17 of the Santa Feans killed in the war and of most others who were from Northern New Mexico.

One of the Santa Feans killed in the war was Joseph “Tudy” Jacques. He had just turned 21 when his aircraft went down in an accident as he was on his way home from Vietnam, said his brother, Mike.

During his time overseas, Joseph Jacques bought a camera and sent photos to his family. The one that will be sent to the memorial is a double exposure, with two images of Joseph.

“In half of the photo, he was sad. In the other part, he was really happy,” Mike Jacques said.

The family cut the photo in half and sent in the happy side. Joseph Jacques, in Army clothes, is leaning on a water tank.

To get the photo on its way to the memorial, Mike Jacques recently met with a member of the group to deliver a copy, something he called a “great honor for the families, and especially the parents.”

The photo has served as a connection for the family to their son, one of two boys and six sisters.

It also will help those who visit the memorial to put a face on the war, in which more than 58,000 Americans died.

Another Santa Fean who was killed in action was Ray Griego, who went to Santa Fe High with Urioste.

Urioste, 65, was in Vietnam more than 40 years ago when he found out his friend had been killed. Seeing his photo again after all this time was tough.

“It’s a hard process, but a healing process,” he said. “It’s like putting a puzzle together. Every opportunity we get is another piece that fills our hearts.”

The remaining missing photos are proving the most difficult, those involved in the project said. Many of the family members of those killed have moved away or have died. Photos of members of the state’s tribal nations are especially difficult to locate, the veterans said. So far, the veterans have done Internet sleuthing, hours of phone-calling and some in-person visits to get the photos. Participants say they won’t stop until they have all 400 photos. So far, New Mexico has the highest percent of located photos among all the states.

Being involved in the project is a source of pride, family members say.

Patty Anaya, whose brother-in-law Michael Anaya was killed in 1970, said she’s glad to see the sacrifices of the fallen and their families acknowledged.

“It really is an honor,” she said. “It’s about time these boys came back and are honored the way they are now.”

Michael Anaya, from Galisteo, was 18 when he died three months into his tour. In December, he will have a bridge in Galisteo named after him a place where he and his best friend would listen to an AM transistor radio. Local Vietnam veterans are also working on that project.