Fort Marcy helped to support and protect traders along the Santa Fe Trail during the Mexican-American War. That year Brigadier-General Stephen Kearny travelled along the Santa Fe Trail with his troops taking control of New Mexico. His action started the American occupation. New Mexico became a U.S. territory in 1850. Referred to as the “Gettysburg of the West,” the Battle of Glorieta marked the turning point in the Civil War.
WWI to Afghanistan
Santa Fe native Hilario Delgado was a World War I veteran who became a charter member of V.F.W. Post 2951 in 1934. On June 6, 1944, Carl Tsosie and Manuel Rodriguez participated in the Battle of Normandy. That battle became the largest seaborne insurgency during World War II. Vicente Ojinaga was one of the last survivors of the Bataan Death March. Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy A. Petry was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2011. The Santa Fean saved the lives of several soldiers in his regiment in a 2008 firefight in Afghanistan.
Women in the Military
Mary Louise Graw and Leah Kellogg enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II. They were two of more than 150,000 women that chose to serve. Cholene Espinoza was the second woman to fly the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft in the U.S. Air Force. Rosemary Morales-Vargas was a Marine who served in the First Gulf war. She became the First Female Commander for the Santa Fe V.F.W. Post 2951.