A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION, THE

NEW MEXICO VETERANS' SERVICE COMMISSION, THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL AND THE LEGISLATIVE FINANCE COMMITTEE TO WORK WITH THE LAS VEGAS VETERANS COMMITTEE ON A FEASIBILITY STUDY OF THE FUNDING THAT WOULD BE NEEDED TO CREATE THE

LAS VEGAS ARMORY CENTER.

WHEREAS, the development of the Las Vegas armory center, formerly known as the "old armory building", has been initiated by a group of veterans who served with three

New Mexico national guard battalions; and

WHEREAS, the members of the three New Mexico national guard battalions, in anticipation of war, volunteered early, fifteen months before the attack on Pearl Harbor; and

WHEREAS, one of the three battalions, the 200th coast artillery, was the first to fight but lacked support because the country was not fully prepared; and

WHEREAS, the second battalion, the 120th combat engineer battalion, together with the southwestern 45th infantry, saw the most days of direct combat, five hundred eleven, of any division in the Pacific or Atlantic theaters; and

WHEREAS, the 120th combat engineer battalion was the first national guard unit federalized to go to Bataan; and

WHEREAS, the 45th infantry had the largest number of Hispanics and Native Americans of any division; and

WHEREAS, the 45th infantry was lauded by

General George Patton as the first to serve under his command, and Marshall Kesselring, overall German commander in the Mediterranean area, said that it was one of the two best United States divisions against which he had ever fought; and

WHEREAS, the third battalion, the 804th tank destroyer battalion, saw honorable action in Italy and Germany; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico veterans have served with distinction throughout the state's history, and there are currently over one hundred ninety thousand veterans in the state; and

WHEREAS, the community of Las Vegas voted to preserve the old armory building and create the Las Vegas veterans center in order to serve the needs of northern New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, there is a coordinated initiative, through the Las Vegas veterans committee, to use the "old armory building" as the Las Vegas armory center for education, training, housing, medical and social services and general economic development for veterans; and

WHEREAS, the community of Las Vegas desires to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the Las Vegas armory center during the week of the inauguration of the World War II memorial, scheduled for Memorial Day 2004;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it recognize the work of the Las Vegas veterans committee to preserve and restore the "old armory building" and convert it into the Las Vegas armory center; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Las Vegas veterans committee be requested to work with the New Mexico congressional delegation, the New Mexico veterans' service commission, an appropriate interim legislative committee and the legislative finance committee to complete, by

October 31, 2003, a study of the feasibility of obtaining the funding that would be needed to make the Las Vegas armory center a reality; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the Las Vegas veterans committee, the

New Mexico congressional delegation, the New Mexico veterans'

service commission, the New Mexico legislative council and

the legislative finance committee.