On November 11, 2014, at 1:00 pm, a Veterans Day Tribute to Luis Victor Armijo will be held at the Central Elementary School. The event, which is sponsored by the Village of Santa Clara and its Historical, Cultural and Tourism Committee, is open to the public.

This special tribute will commemorate Mr. Armijo for his heroic endeavors during World War II in his assignment as a Code Talker.

Armijo was born on October 12, 1924, in San Antonio, New Mexico, and relocated to Central (Santa Clara) when he was a young child, in order for his father to gain employment around the Fort Bayard Area.

His early schooling was at Central Elementary School. From there he went on to Teachers' High School in Silver City where he participated in sports. After graduation, he joined the Army Air Corp hoping to become a fighter pilot, but instead was assigned as an air traffic controller.

During World War II, Mr. Armjo was assigned as a "Code Talker." His crew maneuvered the Enola Gay B-29 super-fortress bomber that dropped the atomic bomb on Hirsohima. It was he who helped guide the bomber's crew safely home after dropping the bomb.

Upon his military discharge after the war, he returned home and married Ella Baca. He gained employment at the mine. Realizing the importance of a college education, he enrolled at State Teachers' College (now WNMU), earning degrees in business, math, administration and counseling.

Upon graduation, he returned to the Socorro area to begin his teaching career at the Navajo School. In 1952, he moved his family to Fullerton, California, where he spent the rest of his career as a teacher, counselor and administrator at Fullerton Union High

In 2001, he was the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Western New Mexico University. He passed away on June 27, 2007, and is interred at Riverside National Cemetery in California.

For 23 years following the end of WWII, the Code Talkers were forbidden by the government to talk about their roles in the war. After that time, it was very hard for many veterans to discuss the war and its impact on the nation, and very little was known about the persons who served as Code Talkers. As a result, Mr. Armijo was not recognized for his role until 1998 when newsman Tom Brokaw decided to feature him in his book, "The Greatest Generation," which is a literary homage to Americans who came of age during the Great Depression and World War II.

The Santa Clara Historical, Cultural and Tourism Committee has dedicated itself to acknowledging Mr. Armijo for his military contributions. Family, friends and neighbors are invited to participate in this late recognition of a hero who was raised in Grant County.