Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park

Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park was the first major memorial to veterans of the Vietnam War, and the only state park dedicated exclusively to veterans of the Vietnam War.cite web |title=Fire Damages Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park |url=http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/prd/Media%20Releases/documents/vvmspfirepressrelease1.pdf |accessdate=2008-07-30 |date=2007-11-29 |publisher=New Mexico State Parks ] It is located off United States Highway 64 in Angel Fire (Colfax County) in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the Enchanted Circle of northeastern New Mexico.

The memorial was begun by Victor and Jeanne Westphall, the grief-stricken parents of Marine First Lieutenant David Westphall, who was among thirteen young men in his unit killed in an ambush in 1968 in Vietnam. The Westphalls used their son’s insurance policies to begin construction of the Peace and Brotherhood Chapel, which is surrounded by white stone in a pyramid shape. The chapel is open twenty-four hours per day. The David Westphall Veterans Foundation has since supported the operation of the memorial, which was opened without charge to the public in 1971. At the time of its construction, the site received national media attention and helped to inspire the establishment of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., completed in 1982. In 1987, the United States Congress recognized Angel Fire as a memorial of national significance. The park hosts thousands of annual visitors, many moved emotionally by the sacrifice of the Vietnam veterans.Brochure, Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park, Angel Fire, New Mexico, 2008]

The Visitor Center was dedicated in 1986 and features photographs and banners from some of the 210 units which served in Vietnam. There is a media room which shows the lengthy Home Box Office documentary film "". A Veteran’s Room honors the KIA-MIA military personnel killed or missing in action. The MIA flag waves outside the center. The center seeks to educate Americans about Vietnam and to maintain a haven for healing and reconciliation.

The memorial maintains a Huey helicopter known originally as “Viking Surprise”, one of the first deployed in Vietnam. On March 26, 1967, the helicopter, while rescuing service personnel, was so bady damaged – 135 bullet holes -- that it was returned to the United States for repairs. The copter returned to Vietnam and was later sent to the New Mexico National Guard, which donated it to the Angel Fire memorial.

The memorial maintains a statue by artist Doug Scott of Taos, entitled “Dear Mom and Dad”. It is a depiction of a soldier with his rifle attached to his shoulder taking time to write a letter home to keep in touch with his family and friends. There is also a scale model of the original Vietnam Women's Memorial, unveiled on the Washington Mall in 1993 by the Lubbock, Texas-born sculptor Glenna Goodacre of Santa Fe. [ Exhibits at Vietnam Veterans Memorial]

A fire damaged the park late in 2007, but repairs were soon completed.

For more information, contact the David Westphall Veterans Foundation, P.O. Box 608, Angel Fire, NM 87710. Telephone: [phone].

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