Memorial reception for Private Jose G. Jaurequi 062926 part 3

[Editor's Note: This is part 3 of the June 28, 2026, Memorial reception for Private Jose G. Jaurequi who died as a prisoner of war in the Philippines, following the battles of Bataan and Corregidor. Please visit parts 1at https://grantcountybeat.com/home/news-articles/memorial-reception-for-private-jose-g-jaurequi-062826-part-1-and-photos-of-the-event  and 2 at https://grantcountybeat.com/home/news-articles/memorial-reception-for-jose-g-jaurequi-062826-part-2 .

Emcee Fred Baca said: "He was here for the whole program, but he wasn't giving a presentation to the Juarequi family. I'm going to let Mr. Arnold Lopez speak as the mayor of Santa Clara."

Lopez said:"There's a lot of history between Fort Bayard and Santa Clara. It was Central at the time that Fort Bayard began. It wasCentral, and then they changed to Santa Clara. But this is my third year there, and I grew up in when it was Central. So I take a lot of pride from there, and I wanted to say thank you to the Jaurequie family. So from the village, I would just like to present this to you, sir. Thank you so much.

Baca said: "We're winding up. I want to recognize all the veteran families that attended and remained here. For all the veterans that were unable to attend for one reason or another, we thank them for their service. We thank the extended Jaurequi family, many who traveled long distances. I'm talking about the west coast to the east coast, literally. Of course, we honor the Bataan Death March veterans and survivors. We honor soldier Jose Garcia Jaurequi again. Welcome to all the distinguished guests that were able to come. We thank all the LULAC members. You see them the red shirts. We got a lot of support from them. They're scattered around, and they assisted in helping to put this on. All the nice delicious food goodies and everythingwere from the Jaurequi family. We thank them for everything. We thank the different committees, my sister and others that came in Friday to get it together. Big thanks to Dr. Larry Jaurequie is an amazing man, and researcher. You name it, we got it done. Romeo Cruz and the staff of the convention center and the wonderful assistants thank all of those that helped to advertise, put up posters, came on the radio station. Thanks to all took time out on a Sunday where you can be with your families on a picnic or enjoying the hot sun, instead of being here for the air conditioning, that's good. The color guard Veterans Coalition is still waiting, and he's ready to get ready for the performance in a few minutes."

To Angelica Padilla, who sang several times during the ceremony, he said: "You add something to the whole ceremony, to the whole program."

Baca invited the ned WNMU president, Dr. Jose Coll, come up and say a few words.

"Good afternoon, everyone. First of all, thank you for being here and giving me this opportunity to welcome me in this remarkable community that supports veterans. As a Marine Corps veteran and father of two Army veterans, it's truly an honor to be here to recognize the bravery and ultimate sacrifice of individuals who served during World War II, and more importantly, those who served during the Baton Death March. Let us cognize those of us who serve today and those who serve tomorrow have served on the shoulders of heroes, of giants, who allowed us the opportunity to recognize what bravery looks like, what sacrifice looks like, and with that, I'm going to leave you with a little poem that recognizes what a soldier is, and I use the term 'soldier' to recognize all of those who serve.

Coll read: "A soldier is many things: steady, solid, and strong; optimistic, outstanding, and organized. Loyal, logic, and level-headed; diligent, decisive, and disciplined; intelligent, idealistic, and when necessary, immovable; earnest, effective, and efficient; rational, resourceful, and resolute. Above all these admirable qualities-a soldier as a hero."

"I believe that today, as we listen to the stories of Jose and all those who stood by him. Those qualities that I just read to you were present at that present moment. Either those who were surrendered or those who stood to the last minute. Every single one of those qualities was present in the Philippines and across the Pacific.

"Today we're here. And I want to thank the family for being here with us today. I also want to recognize the remarkable staff from Western New Mexico who support our student veterans here in the back. I also recognize state support our VSOs who support our veterans within the community, and we are lucky as an institution to actually be able to house our VSO for the county at our institution. I really want to recognize the remarkable work that they do to make sure that our veterans within the community receive the service they need, not only to prosper with our community but also prosper in higher education. Thank you, everyone."

Baca said: "Great things are coming to Western. Another person I'd like to recognize is a native veteran. Without his allowing us to be on the radio station to get the word out, to hear the stories of what the soldiers went through, he afforded us the opportunity along with George Carr. I think George is still here, but I'd like to introduce Raúl. Give us a few words."

"Thank you very much, and I would just like to say a couple few words to start off with Greg Jaurequi. I was playing ball this morning in Tucson, and I wanted to get here so bad so I could be here to say a few words. I wish I would have known Jose more than anything else because after seeing Greg and what he did to get all the kids involved, and at that time I was getting out of the United States Navy, and I see this guy Greg playing basketball in some cut-off shorts. What I mean, I say to myself, "That's the guy I want to know. I met him, and the the thing is, is how I got to meet Larry in August of 2025. He called me up and told me this would be this major event about the Bataan Death March. He told me about told me told me about Jose. We talked about it and talked about it. Thank goodness I would have him on for an hour, two hours on this show, and let me tell you, it was amazing. I would get phone call after phone call and say how amazing the stories were coming out of our radio show here at KURU and the local flavor. It was phenomenal. I would just like to leave this to you. Frances Vasquez is a very good friend of mine. I adore her. She's part of the LULAC and Fred Baca and all you individuals from the LULAC are known. They started in the early '80s two councils, and this is what it's all about on how we can all be united. But I'm gonna leave this one little thing about the Bataan Death March. Frances Vasquez, I had a neighbor by the name of Max Villalobos, and we were kids. And every day that man would actually raise the flag every single day and salute it. And I'm going to be a little joking about this because I would always wonder why he always did that till my father told me about what he went through about the Bataan Death March. It was painful to see that at a very early age how he adored the United States, how adored his country, and that was what it's all about. And I used to wonder why my father would not buy anything Japanese, and he told me why he didn't do it for that reason himself. I want to thank all of you for being here, being a United States veteran, knowing these beautiful people here from the VFW, from the Marine Corps League. This is what it's all about. This country, we love this country. We got to keep it together. And I do want to thank Fred Baca, our hero, all the dignitaries that spoke this morning, and you know what? And I just got to say about Mike and the Walk for the Heroes. I did the Bataan Death March in Las Cruces, and to me, oh man, I can go the 40 miles down to Deming from Hurley. But I'll give it to you one thing: I cannot imagine what these people went through. How did they do it and survive? I did it without a hat. I tried to do it without a hat, without any headphones to be distracted. I made it to 16 miles, and I thought I was going to die. Changed eight pairs of socks because my feet were blistering, I just cannot imagine what these individuals did. Just like the gentleman jumped when he was talking about these Hellships, and I did a small presentation about that. It's just amazing. It's painful to hear, but you know what? Thank you very much for them to give our country and our freedom here in this United States. Thank you, United States. You're an honoree. Thank you, Jeff. Thank you very much, and thank you, Chris, for everything that you do.

Baca said: "If you're somebody present that just needs to say something. Please, I want to hear from you. You want to give me the opportunity because there's always somebody who's a little bit smarter than me who wants you to say something. If not, okay. We've got an ending from our veterans coalition of Grant County, it's going to be beautiful. One more thing, and this came from Larry some time back when we were talking about this empowerment. Not too many to die because of a program here, but to keep on going, to to keep on serving the community. Our young people getting into organizations. There's a lot that we can do that we can help our communities, our state, help our veterans. We can grow. We can become something somewhere much bigger. Get out there, volunteer for an organization. There's a lot we can do. Let's do it. And now for a beautiful ending ceremony, the retrieving of the colors. Stand, place your hand over your heart, or salute there because in the Grant County Coalition."

To conclude, Baca gave one last thank you to everyone and wished them to be safe in their travels home.

ROAD ADVISORY
Difficult Driving Conditions – Virden Area
Difficult Driving Conditions, NM 92 eastbound and westbound from mile marker 0, Arizona State Line to mile marker 6, 3 miles east of Virden. Low water crossing are running water. Crews will continue to monitor and clear debris as needed. Standing water on roadway. Use extreme caution.

The New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) has developed a final design for improvements along US 180, NM 90, and 14th Street In Silver City. 

See flyer below with information and key points

Detour for I10 eastbound traffic has been removed in Arizona. Removed closures and alert from NM Roads. 

ROAD ADVISORY:

ROAD CLOSURE – Arizona Stateline Area

Closure, I-10 eastbound lanes from Arizona into New Mexico are closed at the Stateline. All eastbound traffic is detoured at AZ SR 191 to US 70 into Lordsburg. Use caution of heavy congestion from the US 70 Arizona Stateline into Lordsburg.

ROAD ADVISORY
CLOSURE – Lordsburg Area
Closure, NM 92 eastbound and westbound from mile marker 0, Arizona State Line to mile marker 6, 3 miles east of Virden is closed due to flooding. Roadways are not passable. Do not attempt to cross. The NMDOT is currently clearing roadway and will notify as conditions change.

When the roadway is flooded do not cross and seek an alternate route. Turn around, don't drown.

By Roger Lanse

Grant County Sheriff's Office deputies responded Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, at approximately 3:15 p.m., to a crash involving two vehicles, a Lincoln sedan and a UPS delivery truck. GCSO staff told the Beat the crash occurred on Highway 180 near Arenas Valley Road (MM119), and resulted in injuries. At least one person was transported to Gila Regional Medical Center.

New Mexico State Police officers assisted in the incident. A more complete accident report from the GCSO is forthcoming.