WWII artillery gets permanent home
A piece of World War II history made its way through town Saturday (Jan. 23) as an anti-aircraft artillery cannon was moved to its permanent home at Not Forgotten Outreach’s Veteran’s Living Memorial Park, located at 610 Paseo del Pueblo Norte.
A large scale effort was made to transport the 17,000-pound armament from Upper Ranchitos Road, through town, then to Not Forgotten Outreach. A crane, courtesy of Manuel Medina of Robert Medina & Sons Concrete & Sand, was brought in to lift the cannon, and Taos County Sheriff’s officers helped to escort the now defunct weapon (much of the machinery is welded in place and cannot be used in any way).
The piece of artillery had been sitting at VFW member Lawrence Vargas’ mother’s house on Upper Ranchitos Road for over 35 years, and it had become more than just a decoration. “My sons, my nieces, nephews, grandkids; they grew up playing with it,” said Vargas. “It was like a big gym.” Vargas said his mother, who passed away over three years ago on Veteran’s Day, considered the artillery a local landmark.
The cannon dates back to the early 1940s when it saw action in the South Pacific and the Philippine Islands during WWII. It was never used after the war, as it became outdated. “Closer to Vietnam and in the later years they modified artillery,” explained Joseph DeVargas, head of the Taos branch of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and cousin of Lawrence Vargas.
DeVargas said that the move from his cousin’s house to the memorial had been a long time coming. “We’ve been planning to move this someplace more appropriate. We would have loved to have done this as early as Memorial Day of last year, but you know, things change,” he said.
Lawrence Vargas added they had been planning the move for “at least six to eight months.”
Once the cannon was brought to the Veteran’s Living Memorial Park, about a dozen members of
the Taos VFW Post helped clean up the bottom of the weapon and carefully set it in place. The cannon was lowered onto a concrete pad, also donated by Manuel Medina, who explained he donated his time and materials to honor his father, who served in WWII in the Bataan Death March.
“He went to fight and then he came and helped Taos build,” said Medina of his father Roberto. “And not only him, but a lot of other veterans that came back and made their own businesses and helped Taos grow to where it is now,” he added. Medina said he is glad to see that the artillery has a nowpermanent home. “I’m proud of these guys here,” he said of the VFW members.
The artillery cannon is just
the first addition to the Veteren’s Living Memorial Park. Don Peters, executive director of NFO, explained that when all is said and done, the park will contain a flag disposal area, a garden with fruit trees, seating and a walking path; “just quiet retrospective things,” explained Peters.
A section of the park along Paseo del Pueblo Norte that is owned by Taos Pueblo will include whatever they choose to add. The path will eventually be open to the public.