GULF WAR MEDIC HONORED IN BOY’S POEM
Tularosa 6th-grader’s poem honors war medic uncle
Tularosa Village Council declared Nov. 21 Hunter Benally day for the moving poem the sixth-grader wrote about his uncle.
TULAROSA – A Tularosa sixth-grader penned a poem so moving that the Tularosa Village Council declared a day in his honor last month. Tularosa Mayor Margaret Trujillo said during a council meeting that the Village wanted to recognize sixth-grader Hunter Benally for the sense of honor and hope he expressed in his poem “Bloodshed.”
Benally, a sixth-grader at Tularosa Intermediate School, wrote the poem for last year’s Tularosa Writing Fair. His poem was written in homage to his uncle Alvin Benally and his service as a medic in the Gulf War.
“It’s the only poem I wrote,” Benally said. “It took three days to write it.”
The village is proud of Hunter and his understanding of the sacrifice needed for our freedoms, Trujillo said.
“I would like to honor Hunter Benally,” she said. “I think this little boy has done an excellent job with his poem and he has left many of us in tears. I, Margaret Trujillo, Mayor of Tularosa, do hereby proclaim November 21, 2018, as Hunter Benally Day in the Village of Tularosa.”
The honor was at the behest of Tularosa resident Jennifer Garza, who was one of the judges of the writing contest. Garza said she was stopped in her tracks when she read Hunter’s poem.
Garza’s father was killed in Vietnam two months before she was born, she explained, and Hunter’s poem spoke to what it was like to come to terms with the loss and the strength she and her mother and siblings tapped into after he died.
“I wanted to share that hope abounds, even in such solemn moments,” Garza said. “I was almost without words. Hunter understands. His poem is filled with hope. Out of soldiers that don uniforms are made up of all cultures, all ethnicities, and all religions, yet they are united, and they have a job to do, knowing our whole nation and our freedoms are at stake.”
Hunter’s uncle Alvin Benally, the subject of the poem, was at the council meeting when the declaration was made and when the poem was read aloud.
“We were out hunting and he said there was going to be a presentation, and that I needed to come hear it. I said, do you have a copy of the poem? He said, no, it’s at school,” Alvin laughed. “It was the first time I read it and heard it too. I’m very glad they recognized him and I’m very humbled. I got kind of emotional. It put a lump in my throat hearing what Mrs. Garza had to say and hearing the poem.”
The commissioners presented Hunter a set of pens and notebooks so he can write whenever he has the inspiration. Hunter is focusing on playing the guitar, his father Persy Benally said.
“A lot of AC/DC, Angus Young,” Persy said. “Maybe he can combine (poetry) and playing the guitar, write some lyrics.”
Being in front of the crowd was pretty difficult, Hunter said, but he was glad to honor his uncle.
Garza said the poem continues to resonate with her, and that she is indebted to Hunter for the power of his words.
“Someone 40 years younger than me who can offer me hope means it’s a pretty remarkable poem,” Garza said.