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A MEMORIAL

MARKING THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE LAS VEGAS ARMORY.

WHEREAS, the Las Vegas national guard armory was built

in 1907 and celebrates its centennial anniversary this year;

and

WHEREAS, the national guard was federalized from among

separate militias in the country just after the Spanish

American War; and

WHEREAS, the federalizing of state militias into the

national guard occurred only four years before the Las Vegas

armory was built; and

WHEREAS, during World War I, the national guard made up

forty percent of the United States divisions in France; and

WHEREAS, in World War II, the national guard comprised

nineteen divisions; and

WHEREAS, in World War II, guard units from New Mexico

participated across Europe from Africa to southern Italy, and

from the Maginot line to Munich, and many of the guardsmen

from New Mexico were among the soldiers who liberated

concentration camps; and

WHEREAS, in World War II, guardsmen from the Las Vegas

company F were in combat for five hundred eleven days and saw

some of the fiercest fighting and persevered with great

bravery; and

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WHEREAS, the Las Vegas armory is an edifice that came to

stand for the importance and dignity of service in the

national guard;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE

STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it mark the importance of the Las

Vegas national guard armory centennial with a celebration and

increased awareness of the historic contributions to the

freedom of today's United States made by the men and women

who passed through the doors of the building; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that New Mexico celebrate the

renovations of the century-old building as not only a

memorial to bravery but also a door to a future of

multipurpose uses; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the governor, the mayor of Las Vegas and the

department of military affairs.