A crowd of hospital employees and staff and members of the public turned out Tuesday for the dedication of a new flagpole at Roswell Regional Hospital in a ceremony that included the raising of a flag that had flown at New Mexico Military Institute.
Rod Schumacher, Roswell Regional chief executive officer, expressed his appreciation to NMMI and to the Roswell Veterans Honor Guard and its commander, John Taylor. The honor guard conducted the flag-raising ceremony.
“We are proud as Roswell Regional to be a part of this community and proud to be a part of this country,” Schumacher added.
Cadet Col. Luis Martinez, NMMI regimental commander, presented the flag to Don Vinish, vice commander of the honor guard. The two unfolded the flag and as Martinez saluted and the Honor Guard presented arms, Vinish raised the flag to the top of the pole and lowered it to half-staff. Flags are being flown at half-staff in memory of soldiers killed in a massacre at Fort Hood.
After the ceremony, Schumacher asked the crowd to join him in a moment of silent prayer for the soldiers killed in the shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, last week.
The ceremony was one of several events scheduled at the hospital this week in honor of veterans. Monday, easels went up in the hospital lobby with photos and names of members of the RRH family — employees, staff ad their loved ones — who are currently serving in the armed forces.
A video began running on television sets in the lobby with combat veterans giving accounts of things that happened during their service. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jack Swickard and Tom Baca were scheduled to speak at a reception in the hospital lobby. The two were pilots of two helicopters involved in the rescue of 126 South Vietnamese soldiers and an American advisor who were under fire and trapped by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong units.
At 9:30 a.m. Wednesday the seven-voice vocal ensemble from NMMI is scheduled to perform in the lobby and patient are areas on the second floor. The ensemble will sing the National Anthem and a vocal version of Taps.
A patriotic cake decorated to look like Roswell Regional Hospital’s billboard near College Boulevard and North Main Street will be served at a reception in the lobby Friday at 2 p.m.
