CSU Pueblo rededicates Southeast Asia Memorial to honor the fallen and those who came home

At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, guns fell silent on the Western Front in 1918. Americans have marked the hour with silence and ceremony ever since. The ceremony at Colorado State University Pueblo began at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, when the university rededicated its Southeast Asian Memorial. The memorial honors the men and women who served in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand and those who did not come home.

The rededication marks the completion of the memorial’s first phase. University staff and members of the veteran community spent about six months on repairs to the granite and trim, the lighting and the walkways. The university dedicated the memorial in 2012.

Many Vietnam veterans came home to a country divided over the war. Retired Air Force Col. Jeff Chostner acknowledged the bitterness after Vietnam and questioned whether the nation truly appreciated its veterans. Some veterans met hostility at home, and many carried wounds the public could not see. Congress established the Vet Center program in 1979 to offer counseling to combat veterans. The nation dedicated the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington in 1982, after years of debate over its design.

Mandell Reliford, who suffered a wound in Laos, joined more than 20 military veterans at the morning program.

A cloudless blue sky framed the morning. Golden leaves still hung from the trees along the walkways, and blue Adirondack chairs lined the grass near the memorial. Veterans and military families gathered near the stone.

Retired Air Force Col. Jeff Chostner, a former Pueblo County district attorney, served as master of ceremonies. East High School Army JROTC cadets posted the colors, and the Sankey Sisters sang the national anthem. Chostner asked Vietnam veterans in the crowd to stand. He thanked them for serving during what he called the most contentious time in the nation’s history, and for representing the country as well as any generation of veterans.

CSU Pueblo President Rhonda Epper said the university shares in the memorial’s care. She described Pueblo as “proudly known as the home of heroes.” Epper said the university has “a responsibility to care for this place with the respect it deserves.” She added the university welcomes the chance to preserve and share those memories.

Retired Air Force Gen. Ralph E. “Ed” Eberhart, the keynote speaker, flew 300 combat missions during the Vietnam War. He later commanded NORAD and U.S. Northern Command.

Eberhart traced the nation’s care for veterans back to the Revolutionary War. He noted Armistice Day became a federal holiday in 1938.

“We stand on the shoulders of our veterans,” Eberhart said. “They give it all.” He cited Abraham Lincoln’s call to care for those who bore the battle, along with their widows and orphans. Eberhart closed with thanks: “Thank you for what you’ve done to protect us.”

Chostner said historians over the past 15 to 20 years have credited Vietnam veterans with a tougher road than the generations before them. He called the war “a different kind of war” and said it was “well worth fighting.”

Garrison Ortiz, vice president of university operations and chief financial officer, said Chostner and Luis Valerio, a former professor, brought the memorial’s needs to the university several months ago. Ortiz said the university prioritizes maintaining these spaces with dignity to reflect the sacrifice veterans made for their country.

Ortiz previewed phase two. The university plans to create the first commemoration of all Colorado Medal of Honor recipients on campus, beside the Southeast Asian Memorial. Veterans’ groups will set the criteria for inclusion. Phase two also adds a dedicated tribute to current and former students and employees of CSU Pueblo who served in the military. The university will begin a fundraising campaign for this work at a later date.

Dominic Pillitteri, a former U.S. Marine and operations manager at the Military and Veterans Success Center, led the POW/MIA missing man table ceremony while Mike Wakefield, a CSU Pueblo faculty member, played taps. The empty chair stands for those still missing, and the table stays round to show everlasting concern. The white cloth reflects the purity of their response to their country’s call to arms. The salt on the plate stands for the tears families have shed while they wait for answers. A lit candle reflects hope that the missing will return someday.

Pillitteri then explained the seven tolls of the ceremonial bell, and a Navy veteran helped him ring them. The tolls mark the choice to serve, camaraderie, patriotism, respect, dignity, honor, and the value of life. The seventh toll honors the ultimate sacrifice, whether the veteran fell in combat or served quietly for years. Pillitteri closed the reading with this reflection: “The value of a veteran cannot be adequately described by words alone.”