Patriot's Day Dinner Features U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce

Patriot’s Day Dinner Features U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on April 25, 2017
- 11:10 pm

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce is the keynote speaker at the Republican Party of Los Alamos Patriot’s Day Dinner Friday at De Colores. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

RPLA First Vice Chair and County Councilor James Chrobocinski, left, and U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce at Friday’s Patriot’s Day Dinner at De Colores. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

By MAIRE O’NEILL

Los Alamos Daily Post

U.S. Representative Steve Pearce was the keynote speaker at the Republican Party of Los Alamos Patriot’s Day Dinner Friday at the former De Colores restaurant celebrating “The Shot Heard Around the World” and first responders, “our patriots of today. Pearce was introduced by Second Vice Chair Dr. Lisa Chin, who was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio last July.

Pearce spoke about his high school graduation class, the Class of 1965, in Hobbs which lost nine people “who paid the highest price” in Vietnam. He said after attending a class reunion in 2015, he felt that surely someone could do more to remember them besides “just going out to the cemetery every Memorial Day”. He decided to dedicate a trip around the world in a small single-engine plane to honor their memory.

“It was one of the most rigorous things I have ever attempted to do in my life, but never once did it feel like a struggle,” Pearce said. “The closer I got to Vietnam, the more I felt like I was going home”.

During the Vietnam War, Pearce served as a combat pilot, flying over 518 hours of combat flight and 77 hours of combat support. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and two Air Medals, as well as seven other military medals and four exceptional service awards. His entry clearance for Vietnam was canceled the day before he was to land there and he ended up flying into Thailand.

“Everywhere I went in the world, it didn’t matter whether they were young or old, Buddhist, Muslim or Christian, male or female, they all asked, “Captain, why are you doing this?”, Pearce said. “There is an innate desire in people to recognize those who do more and sacrifice more. In this country, we’ve become dismissive of those who put their lives on the line for you and me, and it’s a sad thing.”

He said when he got home from Vietnam, he put his uniform in the closet and didn’t speak about the service for more than 20 years. He called it one it “one of the most disgraceful times in our nation’s history”.

“I burn with anger today at politicians who turn their backs on young men and women in combat. In my first speech before the House of Representative, I said that we will, we must honor their service and sacrifice. If you don’t want to find the kids in combat, then get them the hell out and bring them home. Put the money in or get them out, it’s a clear choice,” Pearce said.

“When I was in Vietnam, no one ever came. No elected officials visited anywhere I was. It was a mistake I didn’t want to make. When I was elected in 2003, I immediately went that year to Baghdad to see what we were doing. I went six or seven times into the war theater to say, “Thank you for your service”, he said.

Pearce said he also wanted to see if the leadership was honoring the service of the troops. He said it was his experience that members of the upper echelon of the military sometimes went into the war theater for three months to “get the checkmark for their career”, and that he wanted to make sure they were being held accountable for the kids underneath them.

“Men and women in this country are phenomenally qualified compared to the military when I was in,” he said. “The discipline, the sense of honor, duty, commitment to this nation’s ideals is unfettered in the military but does not penetrate into our society”.

Pearce commended the local group for holding Fridays event, saying that he appreciated them being willing to honor and thank area veterans and first responders. Although there were several veterans at the event, the only first responders present were Los Alamos Fire Chief Troy Hughes and Bloomfield Police Chief Randy Foster.

Pearce briefly addressed President Donald Trump’s first four months in office including the health care battle in Washington, D.C. “If you don’t go to Washington grounded, the crosswind will blow you around,” he said.

Bill McKerley leads the group in prayer. Photo by Maire O’Neill/ladailypost.com

RPLA Chair James Robinson addresses the crowd. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

RPLA Vice Chair James Chrobocinski addresses the crowd. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce answers audience questions following his speech. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

Bob Carlson and former County Councilor Fran Bertting. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

County Economic Development Administrator Joan Ahlers and her husband Gary Ahlers. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

Crowd scene at the event with former Los Alamos Acting Police Chief Randy Foster, second from right and his brother County Councilor James Chrobocinski at far right. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com