June 1, 2025 • 32 mins
Segment 1: Amber Banda talks with El Paso Sun City Pride president Christopher Eck. June is pride month, and thus a very busy month for EP Sun City Pride. They have a huge list of events posted on their social medias including game night at the Chihuahuas, Pride Night with the Locomotives, their fan favorite, the Pride Parade June 21st, and so much more.
They talk about what the organization does for the LGBTQ+ community, the support they offer, Christopher's story about coming out to his very Catholic family, and how their events have changed this year based on the political climate. Tune in to find out how you can help support their cause.
For more information go to suncitypride.org
Segment 2: Amber Banda interviews Dolores Ituarte Valenzuela, President of El Paso Gold Star Family Memorial and Gold Star daughter. Gold Star families are the immediate family members of a U.S. military service member who has died in the line of duty. Dolores talks about losing her father, having a school named in his honor, how this organization came to be reaized, and how it plans to ensure that the stories of these brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice continues via the Gold Star Memorial. This memorial will serve as a place where Gold Star families and the community can go to pay respects, honor, and remember. Tune in to learn what the memorial will look like, location, and what is still needed from the community to support this structure and make it happen in the Veteran Capital of America, (El Paso)!
For more information find them on Facebook.
They talk about what the organization does for the LGBTQ+ community, the support they offer, Christopher's story about coming out to his very Catholic family, and how their events have changed this year based on the political climate. Tune in to find out how you can help support their cause.
For more information go to suncitypride.org
Segment 2: Amber Banda interviews Dolores Ituarte Valenzuela, President of El Paso Gold Star Family Memorial and Gold Star daughter. Gold Star families are the immediate family members of a U.S. military service member who has died in the line of duty. Dolores talks about losing her father, having a school named in his honor, how this organization came to be reaized, and how it plans to ensure that the stories of these brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice continues via the Gold Star Memorial. This memorial will serve as a place where Gold Star families and the community can go to pay respects, honor, and remember. Tune in to learn what the memorial will look like, location, and what is still needed from the community to support this structure and make it happen in the Veteran Capital of America, (El Paso)!
For more information find them on Facebook.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly half hour
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso for over twenty years,
featuring local news and interviews of interest to our listeners
in West Texas and southern New Mexico. All views and
opinions expressed on this program are those of the host
and guest, and not necessarily those of iHeartRadio Management and
now El Paso Public Forum.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome back to the al Paso Public Forum. I'm your host, Amberbanda,
and today I am speaking with Christopher Eck. He is
the president of El Paso's Sun City Pride. Christopher, thank
you so much for talking with me.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Of course, do you prefer Christopher Chris?
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Chris is fine, Okay, great formal right. I know I've
had you on before and I can't remember.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Okay, Chris is better for me too, So I don't
know what I'm going to do with all that time.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
I safe.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
So we're going to talk today about al Paso Sun
City Pride. This episode airing June first, June being Pride month.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
So I'm glad I caught you right on time.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
It's like the perfect way to kick off this segment
for the month, and the El Paso Sun City Pride
was established to serve the l g B t q
I A plus community. Can you tell us how do
you serve the community.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Well, essentially, we bring visibility to the community, which, as
you know, with current times, we're trying to be shoved
back in the closet and hidden from public view. Basically,
what we do is we show that those that haven't
come out or those that are struggling to find themselves
that it's okay to be themselves and be their unique selves.
(01:29):
And and by hosting events, welcoming welcoming events, and you know,
showing showing the public as well that it's not what
movies say they are or political forms. Uh, try to
paint the community as you know, just showing that we
are just other human beings trying to just live and be.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
So, you know, with the current political climate, like you mentioned,
we won't get into politics definitely, but I do want
you to since you are the voice in many ways
for this community, can you say maybe some of the
things that people might have a misconceent on that you
would like to bring light to.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Well, there's a big The biggest one is the grooming aspect.
We're always told that we're trying to groom the young uns,
and it's absolutely not not true. All we do is
create safe space for families and for the families to
make decisions how they want their children to be exposed.
We do give warnings to where if the content of
our performances by the local drag queens are such, do
(02:26):
get a little bit more pg. Thirteen. We usually do
that at about eight o'clock. And we do give the parents,
or at least it's on our tickets to our events
that you know, you might want to advise that it
does get a little bit more riskue and so children,
but we don't ever, we never, we never been anyone
from attending our events because we never it's never x rated,
(02:47):
it's never just grow, it's never gross, and so it's just,
you know, there is no grooming involved. It's just creating
that safe space that if a child or teen or
an adult is struggling with trying to figure out who
they are and whether or not they're going to be accepted,
at least they have outlets to figure all that out.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
And the news does like to sensationalize a lot of things,
you know, it doesn't go on the news if it's
not like something really big or something really different. And
I have noticed when we do start talking about your
events that a lot of them are in the evening.
And not only that, but I am a huge child advocate,
you know, I'm part of Guardians of the Children. I'm
part of multiple child wealth or child organizations. And the
(03:27):
thing is that there is always someone in a group
like there's no one person that, oh, that guy is
a child predator that because I know, like you said,
it's a big issue, but it's the child predators that
should be targeted. It's not any one group in particular,
do you know what I mean. So it's just whatever
is being said in the news. A lot of it,
you know, from all sides. Again we're not going to
(03:48):
get into politics here, but from all sides, they're always
going to put the people on there that are a
little bit out there.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
And so I.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Agree with you, you know, it's the child predators themselves
should be you know, targeted or whatever. But we'll we'll
move on past that because that could be like a
whole hour long segment. So we're you know, like you said,
you're you're providing the information and the resources and the
support for someone that may be having a questions or
(04:17):
they need to come out, or they you know, a
family member maybe that doesn't know how or wants to
know how to better support someone when they when they
have come out. So with that being said, what kind
do you have like support groups? I know you have
a lot of events where people can come and maybe
the support groups are at these events. Can you talk
a little bit more about the actual support.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
So for essentially we're the main hub where people reach
out to. So because we do have the largest reach
fift thirteen thousand Facebook followers, you know, it's it's where
the hub. So we partner with a lot of our
sister organizations like the Borderline Rainal Center, which offers mental
health group therapy. We partner with a Passopy Flag which
offers support for parental guidance. We offer offer support. We
(04:59):
partner with Center against Sexual Family Violence, you know, and
to help mothers who are supporting their gay queer teens
or so and so forth that end up getting domestically
abused and so we give them resources and we outlet
were kind of the hub where we can go Okay,
you need to call it here. You need to go
here and we get them in contact with the proper
(05:22):
proper venues to help them in whatever situation. And maybe
because it's ever so changing all the time, the only Yeah,
and you know even with teens that have been kicked
out of their homes, you know the Center for Children,
you know, homeless shelter, they do have an LGBTQ specialist
that helps help those teens.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
And yeah, they al Pascal Center for Children. I used
to work right next to them. I didn't know that they.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Had that specifically for that.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
But if you are wanting to contact them, get get
more information on Instagram, ep Sun City Pride, Facebook, Al
Passos Sun Citypride, Sun Citypride dot org. Just do a
Google search for you know, Sun City Pride and of
course something.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Will come up.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
But Chris, I want to talk to you, you know,
for maybe someone listening to this that feels like they
want to come out, they're afraid to come out. Can
you maybe share some of your personal story behind how
it happened for you and why you decided to get
involved in Al Paso Sun City Pride.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Well, essentially, you know growing up in olpass so it's
a very machismo Latino traditional up you know city, well
at least that's the front that we put. Oh yeah,
you know. Yeah. So I was always very scared. You know,
I was scared to be who I was, you know,
especially being a devout Catholic. You know, I beat myself up,
(06:38):
beat myself up more so with thought, and you know,
I struggled because you know, it was a sin and
it was wrong, and that's all you heard, whether it
be in TV, and this was back in the eighties
and nineties and TV that's bad, You're going to hell,
you know, all sorts of negative aspects when it came
to being queer. So when I did finally see things
(07:01):
that were going out, it was the queer community was
over sexualized. You know that that's what was during that time.
So seeing that it made me think that that's all.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
It was made the queer community to be is just
sex And so in joining our prosistency fride where I'm
able to show, you know, the community, those the struggling
that there's more to it. It's just a lifestyle. It
doesn't have to be sexism that you're guiding lights. It's
just a part of who you are. And you know,
(07:32):
being gay is about everything I am. It's just another
aspect of it, and it just happens to be how
I was born, and I was raised in a very
very straight straight play football and do the sports, and
I thought against as far as I could, and I struggled.
I struggled mentally. There was there were moments as a
child that I wanted to take my own life because
I felt I was always bullied. I was chased home
(07:54):
from school and you know, it's the rock set me
because all my friends were girls. It was a very,
very very tough. So it's just super important that kids
don't go through that anymore. And unfortunately, with the current climate,
that's all coming back and there's now it's even worse.
It cyberbullo and there's all sorts of things. It's just yeah, So.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
How old were you when you came out?
Speaker 5 (08:17):
I was actually fourteen? I was fourteen?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
And how did that happen? Like, how did you how
did you come out? And what were the reactions?
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Initially?
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Well, I'm a very very I'm a big nerd, So
obviously I went to the library and I was like,
what is this?
Speaker 3 (08:31):
What is going on?
Speaker 5 (08:32):
So I actually checked out a book called Gay Roots
which is stories of different stories of people through the
sixties and seventies who wrote they're encounters on how they explored,
how they did things. And I left the book on
my bed and my dad's and my mom.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
And does did you leave it on purpose?
Speaker 1 (08:49):
No?
Speaker 5 (08:49):
No, And my parents sat me down and said, is
everything okay? And they asked me yeah, and I said no,
I'm bisexual. You know, that was the first and then
later on I finally, you know, I admitted to myself
that I was I was gay, and my parents were
super accepting, and it was it was a shame because
I didn't give them the benefit of the doubt. Had
(09:11):
I done so, I probably probably would have went a
lot better, and I would have struggled so much mentally,
and you know, had those thoughts. So that's that's why
we do what we do, just to be able to
give those resources, the outlets and partner with so many
different ways that parents and kids they just lived the
(09:31):
life right.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
So you know, people can go to those social media
handles or that website like I told you, like like
I announced earlier, and then if they do plan to
do this, they can say, you know, come out to
whoever that they choose to and then they have this
in their back pocket whether or not they get a
good or a bad reaction, So that's, you know, something
that they can fall back on as well. And if
you're just joining us, I have here our guest, Christopher Eck,
(09:54):
President for al Pasco's Sun City Pride. This segment airing
the first of June, June being Pride month, And that
being said, Chris, you have a lot of events. I
know you are super busy during Pride months, so I
just want to say again thank you for actually being,
you know, making the.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Time to talk to us.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
So can you tell us a little bit go down
the list of these events?
Speaker 5 (10:11):
So actually, I mean years past, the past three years,
we've been busier, a lot more events, but we decided
to go back to our roots. So we're kicking off
Pride with our Queer Market at the art of Venos
Desert Crossing. That is May thirty first, will you yesterday
is May thirty first, from nine o'clock to two. It
was great because there's queer owned businesses, allies that sold
(10:33):
all of their stuff and then we had drag shows,
we had yoga, we had health screenings, blood blood donations,
all sorts of wonderful films, and so moving forward into
the month, we have the star lighting. Our tonic star
is going to be the Rainbow on the eighteenth.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Yeah, yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Remember seeing it last year. It was super cool.
Speaker 5 (10:56):
Yeah. Unfortunately the price did go up this year with
the pass. The chain took twelve thousand dollars, so we're
only doing a week. It's getting cost us five thousand,
but thankfully it's sponsored Biopasso Electric. They're going to go
ahead and sponsor all five thousands.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
Like the Rainbow, Beacon of light, I love it, yes,
and it's.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
Truly it's a beacon of hope. That's why I level
bottle pass and that's why we do it. So it'll
be the star lighting, and then we're having having that
lighting at Laube. We're having adult Pride Nights and our
neighbay's going to go ahead and do all sorts of
wonderful activities. We're going to have some drag poons, we're
gonna have a sing with your poptail, and again it
is adult only eighteen. It's open to everyone eighteen and over,
(11:38):
but you have to be twenty one, so obviously do things.
We'll have some mocktails for those who can't. But it's
a beautiful museum. I don't know if you've been. It's
three stories.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Yes, I can imagine it with like with your Sensity
Pride touches.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
It's going to be awesome.
Speaker 5 (11:54):
And then so from there we go to the next day,
we go to Pride Edit with the Chew Wallis and
then which is a hit every year.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (12:03):
So tickets are on sale. You can go to for
all of the events at our league treats tr dot
et or sashall pass to Sensity Pride, our Sensity Pride
and you can get all for all our events and
tickets that are available. Tickets for the Chiuhahas are twenty
two dollars. Oh and I also forget the Locomotives. We
have Pride Night on Cold Play Night, I know Cold
(12:24):
Place playing on the thirteenth, fourteen.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
If you don't have tickets to that, come and come
to the Locomotives game. We will have fignit with the
locomotives and tickets for that are twenty dollars and that
percentage I believe we get six dollars of the twenty
yeah percentage.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
OK, so you have a lot going on June fourteenth,
Pride Night with the Locomotives, June fifteenth, ep s CP
Pride Dodgeball Tournament, June eighteenth, Le Nuba Adult Pride Night
with star lighting, June nineteenth, Pride Night with the Chihuahuas,
June twentieth, hear me, we're at the El Paso Zoo.
June twenty first Pride Parade and picnic. And June twenty
(13:02):
first the Pride Crawl with US Bar Crawl and July
fifth you have splash Fest, and so I need to
make a suggestion. I need a drag queen makeup tutorial
event please. I would pay good money for that.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
Oh my god. So, Chris, is there anything.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Else that you would like to say both those events?
Speaker 5 (13:20):
No, just definitely this year is the most important year.
We need funding. The big reason why we were able
to pull off a full fledged festival this year and
we had to pivot and combine our splash event with
our festival was funding. Unfortunately, it's just with today's economy
and everything going on, people are a little tighter with
(13:40):
their money.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
But we do have a breath.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
You had to create the splash Fest, while you had
to combine them both.
Speaker 5 (13:44):
So Essentially, we were as usual, we do communicate with
our local law enforcement, and there is a heightened morning
of threats to the LGT community. So safety is are
number one priority with any of our evanks. So you
have to make sure that in doing so, have security
at police on stand by so and so for But
unfortunately that costs a lot of money. So in lieu
(14:07):
of that, we combined our splash our splash event Lent
and Wild. Since it is gated, it is protected, it
is private, and it's on private property, we went ahead
and to help avoid those costs but increase the safety,
we combine the two. And secondly, there's, unfortunately today's current
political climate, our sponsors don't our arts coming through due
(14:28):
to the fact that they don't want to be targeted.
So it's just a big part of what's going on.
So we just had to make smart moves, smart moves
and still celebrate pride and show that there's still a
place for everybody, but also do it smart so we're
not we don't go big vunds.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Right, you have to pivot and I remember you telling
me that last year that your number one priority was
everyone's safety, and you know you still you're not going
back into hiding. You're just making sure everyone's safe and
you're still here. You're still here for the community. And
if you want to know more about these events, follow
along on Instagram, ep sun City Pride, on Facebook, l
Passo sun City Pride, and you can go to the
(15:07):
website Suncitypride dot org. And Chris, is there anything else
that you would like to tell the listening audience?
Speaker 5 (15:14):
Just now now more than ever. Support, support your career, children,
support with your community, support, support, support and any way
you can. If you can give money, volunce here, we
do have a grassroots program. If you do, it's a
subscription program and if each one of you gives a
dollar a month, we've can have more events. We want
to end up opening the Homos shelter for the LGBT
(15:34):
speaking anything use and there's there's a lot of goals,
but without it, without money, and we can't really get there.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
So you all are very important because I do know
that the suicide rate in this community is very high,
and part of it is because they feel like they
don't have anyone that they can talk to. So I'm
glad you're here, uh you know, and I'm glad that
You're still a voice for this community here in El
Paso and anyone that's wanting to listen again Suncitypride dot org,
follow them, share their events, you know, if you can't
make them, that's a way to just say that they
(16:01):
support you. And Chris, thank you so much for talking
with me today.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
Thank you for having me again.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Welcome back to the Al Pasol Public Forum. I am
your host, Amber Banda, and today we are talking with
Dolores Ituarte Valenzuela, president of the Al Paso gold Star
Families Memorial and gold Star Daughter herself, the Lotus.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Thank you for talking with us today.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
Thank you, Amber. It's an honor to be here and
to share our mission with your listeners. On your episode board,
I really liked gold Star Family, so I want to
thank you for the opportunity to speak to you on
this initiative.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Of course, so al Paso gold Star Family's Memorial initiative.
But first do Lotus, can you explain to the listening
audience what is a gold Star Family member. You're a
gold Star Daughter yourself, what does that mean?
Speaker 6 (16:51):
Yes, so, gold Star Families are immediate family members of
US service members who died in the line of duty.
The tradition goes back to World War One, when families
replaced a blue star with the gold one to honor
their loved ones sacrifice.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
Replaced the star. Where what do you mean?
Speaker 6 (17:11):
Like, Well, in World War One, families were given a
banner with the blue star, and when their loved ones
paid the ultimate sacrifice, that blue star was exchanged for
a gold star, hence the name gold Star Families.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Oh okay, so you have a gold star banner for
your father and the Alpasso Gold Star Families Memorial initiative
what is this.
Speaker 6 (17:35):
Well, we are the passive gold Star Families Memorial is
going to be a tribute to those families, the parents,
the spouses, the siblings and children who have lost someone
in service to our nation.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Okay, that's amazing. And I first heard about you a
few months ago, and I know you've had a few
different fundraisers since, especially with the backer community. But you know,
we know, we know that the al Paso area, the
al Paso City has a deep military heritage. How does
the al Paso Gold Star Families how do they support
(18:10):
families of the fallen and the broader community.
Speaker 6 (18:14):
Yes, thank you for that question. Al Paso is home
to four bliss and a vibrant veteran community. This memorial
is not just a monument. It's going to be a
space for reflection and healing, reminding us all of the
price of freedom. It will give gold Star families a
permanent place to grieve, to honor, and to connect. It
(18:36):
also helps teach future generations about the meaning of sacrifice
and patriotism. So this isn't just what you call a monument,
and it's a space for healing and so pa space
space to come together and connect with other gold Star families.
Our initiative doesn't just end after we construct and build
(18:57):
and dedicate this memorial. It continues to help other gold
Star families connect. We can provide them with resources. As
you know, a lot of times when you lose someone,
especially a military family member, you only have a set
number of days to get everything together, you know, the
(19:19):
funeral regions if you're living on base, if you're living
off post. And sometimes families, because it's a shock and
going through the grief, they don't really know who to
connect with.
Speaker 5 (19:35):
You know.
Speaker 6 (19:36):
Back when I lost my father in nineteen sixty five,
we were living in Caninoia Bay. We were stationed in
Caninoia Bay at the United States Marine Corps there on
o Wahoo Island, And at the time that we received
the news, we were in Demi, New Mexico, where my
mom is from, celebrating Thanksgiving and getting ready for Christmas.
(19:57):
When we received the news on December the eleventh, nineteen
sixty five. Now, think of this, My mother I was
two and a half year old, My sister Ida was
three and a half years old. My mother had thirty
days at that time to get back to Hawaiian, close
up the house, get all the funeral arrangements made back
(20:20):
to the States, receive my dad's body at for Bliss
and so I always my mother has such resilience, having
two baby girls, and the fact that she had the
support of her father and her mother really makes a difference.
But no one knew where to turn to the resources
(20:43):
at that time.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
So what do you think is, you know, you did
explain a little bit about when someone passes away and
you know whether it suddenly or expected, and you know
they have to make funeral arrangements. But there are different
There's differences when it involves military.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
Someone that was in active duty.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
So what are some of those differences that the military
family space where you can step in and provide help
with that.
Speaker 6 (21:11):
Well, we can help them in terms of providing them
with resources needed, you know, how to get in touch
perhaps with the chaplain for Blisz, the different services that
can be provided to them. Things have changed dramatically where
now we do have more resources available, but in the
(21:34):
time of that immediate need, they will know that we
have a place here, no passo, where they can locate
one of us, either a surviving gold Star family member
or a volunteer, community volunteer, different organizations. They're not alone.
In other words, we are facing this together. I did
(21:57):
not know of any other gold Star families growing up,
you know, it wasn't until my father, the United States
Marine Corps sergeantal Berthe Duarte, who was a proud Native
Old Patilin, and he was killed in Vietnam during Operation
Harvest Moon on December eleventh, nineteen sixty five. And so
(22:19):
at that time, again I was just two and a
half years old. And it wasn't until when after we
had a school named in his honor here in two
thousand and seven in the Sacor Independent School District, the
Sargental Berthley Thwarte Elementary School that I started seeing the need.
Their racial of military families at that time was seventy
(22:42):
eight percent of the student population.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Oh wow.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Yes.
Speaker 6 (22:46):
And so in twenty fifteen there was a fiftieth commemorative
memorial health for him at the school and I met
a young girl who had lost her father in Iraq,
and that moment really reinforced my vision to create a
space that honors the journey of all gold Star families.
(23:06):
And so by August of twenty twenty four, with the
support of fellow families and veterans, we formally began building
on this stream. And so, as I stated before, it
encompasses all gold Star families, it encompasses our community, different
organizations and businesses. We all come together to support our military.
(23:29):
And no better place than the veterans capital of the
world of the USA.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
And really is that Alpasa.
Speaker 6 (23:37):
I had no idea.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
So if you're just joining us, we have here do lots.
Ituarree Valenzuela, president of al Paso gold Star Families Memorial
and a gold Star daughter herself.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
So I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
That that this was the veteran capital. Wow, So you
know we're talking right now? About the Al Paso gold
Star Families Memorial initiatives, so raising funds, getting sponsorships, getting
support to build this memorial. So now let's get into
a little bit of the architecture of it. You know,
where is it going to be, what is the vision
(24:09):
for it, and what has what if you rate? Well,
let's start with there before I ask too many questions.
So where is it going to be located and what's
the vision for it?
Speaker 6 (24:16):
Physically absolutely, the memorial has been designed by renowned sculptor
Julio Sanchez de Alva and it's going to be located
next to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Old Glory Memorial
in northeast O Passel. It will be a circular monument
eleven feet high by ten feet in diameter with an
(24:37):
eternal light at the center. Around it will be six
etched panels walking visitors through the gold Star family journey.
This begins with the date of enlistment. The second panel
is the deployment, followed by the notification of next of
ken signified arrival. The fifth panel will be the presentation
(25:01):
of the flag, and certainly the sixth and quite important
at the center will be the gold Star national emblem,
symbolizing both grief and pride. The military branch emblems, the
Purple Heart, and the PLW emblems will also be featured
in full color. And in addition, there will be four
(25:24):
battle crosses representing World War One, World War Two, Korea, Vietnam.
The third one will be for Iraq and Afghanistan, and
we will have one that is left empty. We hope
never to have to fill it, but it's a symbol
of hope and peace, but also shows the readiness to
honor future heroes.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
I love that. That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
And so far, how much have you raised and how
much do you need to need have raised?
Speaker 6 (25:55):
We've raised close to thirty six thousand dollars date, and
we're aiming to continue fundraising until September twenty twenty six,
and to begin fabrication and construction, we need to raise
five hundred and eighty nine thousand dollars by January of
(26:16):
twenty twenty six, because it's going to take about six
to eight months to complete once we've broken ground.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Okay, and so what is your financial goal or when
would you all be ready to break ground on this?
Speaker 6 (26:33):
We're hoping to break ground by January of twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
Okay, okay, so how can the community help you all?
How can the community come and support you?
Speaker 6 (26:45):
Well, we just love to have the community come out
and support us through different events, fundraising events. We've got.
The support has been incredible thus far. Some of our
partnerships and sponsorships that we have include the GC Foundation,
who was actually our first gold partner. We also have
(27:05):
Missiria Roa and Doctor John Joseph Vanderpool who are instrumental
in funding the model that we take with us everywhere.
Another little model of it, Oh, yes, we have.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
You're gonna have to send me.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
You're gonna have to send me a picture of that
so that way you.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Can post it on our social media. Looks fantastic.
Speaker 6 (27:24):
Well, I did send you a three D concept of it,
and so I'll touch base with you afterwards. Please upload it.
It is beautiful. You have to really see this. It's
just going to be such an amazing site, a sacred site,
a space where we can all come together to unite
(27:47):
and celebrate the sacrifices and the lives of our American
heroes and the gold Star families. What people I want,
the audience and the community members and the families to
understand that it is not just the military member that
sacrifices so much, it is also the families left here
(28:10):
at home. You know that many times it's like being
in a single parent household, you know, and the mom
or the dad whoever does stay behind, has to kill
the fort and just make sure that everything is positive
so that they can let their soldier, their marine, their
(28:31):
loved ones know that we've got them. The community is
here to help them during that time as well, you know,
and knowing that if they are killed in the line
of duty, that their families will never be forgotten. You know,
we continue to carry that.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
Load, especially for your mom.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
You're saying that, you know, you lost your dad December
eleventh while he was active DUTE.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
That's a tough time.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
I mean, it's always a tough time to lose someone, right,
but with two young girls. You know, I'm thinking when
my daughters were three and you know, that time, we
were looking forward to Christmas and like you said, you
just celebrated Thanksgiving. So yeah, big shout out, you know,
to your family and putting this together for the community,
and like you said, it's not just a place where
people can go and have something physically to be able to,
(29:17):
you know, cry or give thanks. It's also a place
where they can run into other gold Star families and
have that support and know that they're not alone, because
that's a lot of time people just want to know
that they're not alone.
Speaker 6 (29:27):
Yeah. And like I said, one of the profound for me,
this has been a lifelong vision and a dream. But
the moment that really really reinforced my vision to create
a space to honor the journey of all gold Star
families was when I spoke to that little girl. She
was seven years old and her grandmother was volunteering at
(29:49):
the school to help her process through the grief. But
the little girl had never met anyone who had lost
a parent, and when I was speaking with her, I
felt the I felt that instant connection because sometimes you
feel lost, like where is everybody else?
Speaker 5 (30:08):
You know?
Speaker 6 (30:09):
Yeah, And so just having that connection really built that
vision to continue this work, to carry on and have
an important memorial built here.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
And I'll passo just that one little, you know, interaction.
And I'm really surprised thinking about it now that al Paso,
being such a big military community that it is, doesn't
already have one of these, so we need one of
these and I'll passo.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
You know again.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
The Lotus from Al Paso gold Star Families Memorial Initiative,
and I just want to thank you so much for
talking with me today. We have Facebook EP gold Star
on Instagram EP gold Star Families Memorial the Lotus.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
Thank you so much for talking with us today.
Speaker 6 (30:53):
Thank you. And I also want to thank a couple
of more people, the Nineteenth Rifle Company USM SEE our Foundation,
the American Legion Post thirty six Auxiliary Unit, the Thwart
and Valenzuela Families, Pronto Body Shop, James Valenzuela State Farm
Insurance Agency, Regency Printing, and the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association
(31:17):
for becoming our sponsors and partners as well. And I
like the community. If they have any questions to please
reach out on our Facebook page. If not, for those
of you who do, we will go ahead and post
it on there a number you can reach me at
nine one five three zero nine three six two two
(31:37):
or send us a message through our Facebook page.
Speaker 4 (31:40):
Awesome, Thank you so much, the Lotus.
Speaker 6 (31:42):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
You've been listening to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio l Paso. If you, your
organization or event would like to be featured on an
upcoming program, please email to ep Forum at iHeartMedia dot
com or call us at nine one five three five
one five four zero zero. Tune in again next week
(32:03):
for another additional of El Paso Public Forum. The preceding
program was recorded at the studios of iHeartRadio El Paso,
Welcome to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly half hour
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso for over twenty years,
featuring local news and interviews of interest to our listeners
in West Texas and southern New Mexico. All views and
opinions expressed on this program are those of the host
and guest, and not necessarily those of iHeartRadio Management and
now El Paso Public Forum.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome back to the al Paso Public Forum. I'm your host, Amberbanda,
and today I am speaking with Christopher Eck. He is
the president of El Paso's Sun City Pride. Christopher, thank
you so much for talking with me.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Of course, do you prefer Christopher Chris?
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Chris is fine, Okay, great formal right. I know I've
had you on before and I can't remember.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Okay, Chris is better for me too, So I don't
know what I'm going to do with all that time.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
I safe.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
So we're going to talk today about al Paso Sun
City Pride. This episode airing June first, June being Pride month.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
So I'm glad I caught you right on time.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
It's like the perfect way to kick off this segment
for the month, and the El Paso Sun City Pride
was established to serve the l g B t q
I A plus community. Can you tell us how do
you serve the community.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Well, essentially, we bring visibility to the community, which, as
you know, with current times, we're trying to be shoved
back in the closet and hidden from public view. Basically,
what we do is we show that those that haven't
come out or those that are struggling to find themselves
that it's okay to be themselves and be their unique selves.
(01:29):
And and by hosting events, welcoming welcoming events, and you know,
showing showing the public as well that it's not what
movies say they are or political forms. Uh, try to
paint the community as you know, just showing that we
are just other human beings trying to just live and be.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
So, you know, with the current political climate, like you mentioned,
we won't get into politics definitely, but I do want
you to since you are the voice in many ways
for this community, can you say maybe some of the
things that people might have a misconceent on that you
would like to bring light to.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Well, there's a big The biggest one is the grooming aspect.
We're always told that we're trying to groom the young uns,
and it's absolutely not not true. All we do is
create safe space for families and for the families to
make decisions how they want their children to be exposed.
We do give warnings to where if the content of
our performances by the local drag queens are such, do
(02:26):
get a little bit more pg. Thirteen. We usually do
that at about eight o'clock. And we do give the parents,
or at least it's on our tickets to our events
that you know, you might want to advise that it
does get a little bit more riskue and so children,
but we don't ever, we never, we never been anyone
from attending our events because we never it's never x rated,
(02:47):
it's never just grow, it's never gross, and so it's just,
you know, there is no grooming involved. It's just creating
that safe space that if a child or teen or
an adult is struggling with trying to figure out who
they are and whether or not they're going to be accepted,
at least they have outlets to figure all that out.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
And the news does like to sensationalize a lot of things,
you know, it doesn't go on the news if it's
not like something really big or something really different. And
I have noticed when we do start talking about your
events that a lot of them are in the evening.
And not only that, but I am a huge child advocate,
you know, I'm part of Guardians of the Children. I'm
part of multiple child wealth or child organizations. And the
(03:27):
thing is that there is always someone in a group
like there's no one person that, oh, that guy is
a child predator that because I know, like you said,
it's a big issue, but it's the child predators that
should be targeted. It's not any one group in particular,
do you know what I mean. So it's just whatever
is being said in the news. A lot of it,
you know, from all sides. Again we're not going to
(03:48):
get into politics here, but from all sides, they're always
going to put the people on there that are a
little bit out there.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
And so I.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Agree with you, you know, it's the child predators themselves
should be you know, targeted or whatever. But we'll we'll
move on past that because that could be like a
whole hour long segment. So we're you know, like you said,
you're you're providing the information and the resources and the
support for someone that may be having a questions or
(04:17):
they need to come out, or they you know, a
family member maybe that doesn't know how or wants to
know how to better support someone when they when they
have come out. So with that being said, what kind
do you have like support groups? I know you have
a lot of events where people can come and maybe
the support groups are at these events. Can you talk
a little bit more about the actual support.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
So for essentially we're the main hub where people reach
out to. So because we do have the largest reach
fift thirteen thousand Facebook followers, you know, it's it's where
the hub. So we partner with a lot of our
sister organizations like the Borderline Rainal Center, which offers mental
health group therapy. We partner with a Passopy Flag which
offers support for parental guidance. We offer offer support. We
(04:59):
partner with Center against Sexual Family Violence, you know, and
to help mothers who are supporting their gay queer teens
or so and so forth that end up getting domestically
abused and so we give them resources and we outlet
were kind of the hub where we can go Okay,
you need to call it here. You need to go
here and we get them in contact with the proper
(05:22):
proper venues to help them in whatever situation. And maybe
because it's ever so changing all the time, the only Yeah,
and you know even with teens that have been kicked
out of their homes, you know the Center for Children,
you know, homeless shelter, they do have an LGBTQ specialist
that helps help those teens.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
And yeah, they al Pascal Center for Children. I used
to work right next to them. I didn't know that they.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Had that specifically for that.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
But if you are wanting to contact them, get get
more information on Instagram, ep Sun City Pride, Facebook, Al
Passos Sun Citypride, Sun Citypride dot org. Just do a
Google search for you know, Sun City Pride and of
course something.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Will come up.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
But Chris, I want to talk to you, you know,
for maybe someone listening to this that feels like they
want to come out, they're afraid to come out. Can
you maybe share some of your personal story behind how
it happened for you and why you decided to get
involved in Al Paso Sun City Pride.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
Well, essentially, you know growing up in olpass so it's
a very machismo Latino traditional up you know city, well
at least that's the front that we put. Oh yeah,
you know. Yeah. So I was always very scared. You know,
I was scared to be who I was, you know,
especially being a devout Catholic. You know, I beat myself up,
(06:38):
beat myself up more so with thought, and you know,
I struggled because you know, it was a sin and
it was wrong, and that's all you heard, whether it
be in TV, and this was back in the eighties
and nineties and TV that's bad, You're going to hell,
you know, all sorts of negative aspects when it came
to being queer. So when I did finally see things
(07:01):
that were going out, it was the queer community was
over sexualized. You know that that's what was during that time.
So seeing that it made me think that that's all.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
It was made the queer community to be is just
sex And so in joining our prosistency fride where I'm
able to show, you know, the community, those the struggling
that there's more to it. It's just a lifestyle. It
doesn't have to be sexism that you're guiding lights. It's
just a part of who you are. And you know,
(07:32):
being gay is about everything I am. It's just another
aspect of it, and it just happens to be how
I was born, and I was raised in a very
very straight straight play football and do the sports, and
I thought against as far as I could, and I struggled.
I struggled mentally. There was there were moments as a
child that I wanted to take my own life because
I felt I was always bullied. I was chased home
(07:54):
from school and you know, it's the rock set me
because all my friends were girls. It was a very,
very very tough. So it's just super important that kids
don't go through that anymore. And unfortunately, with the current climate,
that's all coming back and there's now it's even worse.
It cyberbullo and there's all sorts of things. It's just yeah, So.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
How old were you when you came out?
Speaker 5 (08:17):
I was actually fourteen? I was fourteen?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
And how did that happen? Like, how did you how
did you come out? And what were the reactions?
Speaker 4 (08:26):
Initially?
Speaker 5 (08:26):
Well, I'm a very very I'm a big nerd, So
obviously I went to the library and I was like,
what is this?
Speaker 3 (08:31):
What is going on?
Speaker 5 (08:32):
So I actually checked out a book called Gay Roots
which is stories of different stories of people through the
sixties and seventies who wrote they're encounters on how they explored,
how they did things. And I left the book on
my bed and my dad's and my mom.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
And does did you leave it on purpose?
Speaker 1 (08:49):
No?
Speaker 5 (08:49):
No, And my parents sat me down and said, is
everything okay? And they asked me yeah, and I said no,
I'm bisexual. You know, that was the first and then
later on I finally, you know, I admitted to myself
that I was I was gay, and my parents were
super accepting, and it was it was a shame because
I didn't give them the benefit of the doubt. Had
(09:11):
I done so, I probably probably would have went a
lot better, and I would have struggled so much mentally,
and you know, had those thoughts. So that's that's why
we do what we do, just to be able to
give those resources, the outlets and partner with so many
different ways that parents and kids they just lived the
(09:31):
life right.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
So you know, people can go to those social media
handles or that website like I told you, like like
I announced earlier, and then if they do plan to
do this, they can say, you know, come out to
whoever that they choose to and then they have this
in their back pocket whether or not they get a
good or a bad reaction, So that's, you know, something
that they can fall back on as well. And if
you're just joining us, I have here our guest, Christopher Eck,
(09:54):
President for al Pasco's Sun City Pride. This segment airing
the first of June, June being Pride month, And that
being said, Chris, you have a lot of events. I
know you are super busy during Pride months, so I
just want to say again thank you for actually being,
you know, making the.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Time to talk to us.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
So can you tell us a little bit go down
the list of these events?
Speaker 5 (10:11):
So actually, I mean years past, the past three years,
we've been busier, a lot more events, but we decided
to go back to our roots. So we're kicking off
Pride with our Queer Market at the art of Venos
Desert Crossing. That is May thirty first, will you yesterday
is May thirty first, from nine o'clock to two. It
was great because there's queer owned businesses, allies that sold
(10:33):
all of their stuff and then we had drag shows,
we had yoga, we had health screenings, blood blood donations,
all sorts of wonderful films, and so moving forward into
the month, we have the star lighting. Our tonic star
is going to be the Rainbow on the eighteenth.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Yeah, yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Remember seeing it last year. It was super cool.
Speaker 5 (10:56):
Yeah. Unfortunately the price did go up this year with
the pass. The chain took twelve thousand dollars, so we're
only doing a week. It's getting cost us five thousand,
but thankfully it's sponsored Biopasso Electric. They're going to go
ahead and sponsor all five thousands.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
Like the Rainbow, Beacon of light, I love it, yes,
and it's.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
Truly it's a beacon of hope. That's why I level
bottle pass and that's why we do it. So it'll
be the star lighting, and then we're having having that
lighting at Laube. We're having adult Pride Nights and our
neighbay's going to go ahead and do all sorts of
wonderful activities. We're going to have some drag poons, we're
gonna have a sing with your poptail, and again it
is adult only eighteen. It's open to everyone eighteen and over,
(11:38):
but you have to be twenty one, so obviously do things.
We'll have some mocktails for those who can't. But it's
a beautiful museum. I don't know if you've been. It's
three stories.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Yes, I can imagine it with like with your Sensity
Pride touches.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
It's going to be awesome.
Speaker 5 (11:54):
And then so from there we go to the next day,
we go to Pride Edit with the Chew Wallis and
then which is a hit every year.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (12:03):
So tickets are on sale. You can go to for
all of the events at our league treats tr dot
et or sashall pass to Sensity Pride, our Sensity Pride
and you can get all for all our events and
tickets that are available. Tickets for the Chiuhahas are twenty
two dollars. Oh and I also forget the Locomotives. We
have Pride Night on Cold Play Night, I know Cold
(12:24):
Place playing on the thirteenth, fourteen.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 5 (12:27):
If you don't have tickets to that, come and come
to the Locomotives game. We will have fignit with the
locomotives and tickets for that are twenty dollars and that
percentage I believe we get six dollars of the twenty
yeah percentage.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
OK, so you have a lot going on June fourteenth,
Pride Night with the Locomotives, June fifteenth, ep s CP
Pride Dodgeball Tournament, June eighteenth, Le Nuba Adult Pride Night
with star lighting, June nineteenth, Pride Night with the Chihuahuas,
June twentieth, hear me, we're at the El Paso Zoo.
June twenty first Pride Parade and picnic. And June twenty
(13:02):
first the Pride Crawl with US Bar Crawl and July
fifth you have splash Fest, and so I need to
make a suggestion. I need a drag queen makeup tutorial
event please. I would pay good money for that.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
Oh my god. So, Chris, is there anything.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Else that you would like to say both those events?
Speaker 5 (13:20):
No, just definitely this year is the most important year.
We need funding. The big reason why we were able
to pull off a full fledged festival this year and
we had to pivot and combine our splash event with
our festival was funding. Unfortunately, it's just with today's economy
and everything going on, people are a little tighter with
(13:40):
their money.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
But we do have a breath.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
You had to create the splash Fest, while you had
to combine them both.
Speaker 5 (13:44):
So Essentially, we were as usual, we do communicate with
our local law enforcement, and there is a heightened morning
of threats to the LGT community. So safety is are
number one priority with any of our evanks. So you
have to make sure that in doing so, have security
at police on stand by so and so for But
unfortunately that costs a lot of money. So in lieu
(14:07):
of that, we combined our splash our splash event Lent
and Wild. Since it is gated, it is protected, it
is private, and it's on private property, we went ahead
and to help avoid those costs but increase the safety,
we combine the two. And secondly, there's, unfortunately today's current
political climate, our sponsors don't our arts coming through due
(14:28):
to the fact that they don't want to be targeted.
So it's just a big part of what's going on.
So we just had to make smart moves, smart moves
and still celebrate pride and show that there's still a
place for everybody, but also do it smart so we're
not we don't go big vunds.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Right, you have to pivot and I remember you telling
me that last year that your number one priority was
everyone's safety, and you know you still you're not going
back into hiding. You're just making sure everyone's safe and
you're still here. You're still here for the community. And
if you want to know more about these events, follow
along on Instagram, ep sun City Pride, on Facebook, l
Passo sun City Pride, and you can go to the
(15:07):
website Suncitypride dot org. And Chris, is there anything else
that you would like to tell the listening audience?
Speaker 5 (15:14):
Just now now more than ever. Support, support your career, children,
support with your community, support, support, support and any way
you can. If you can give money, volunce here, we
do have a grassroots program. If you do, it's a
subscription program and if each one of you gives a
dollar a month, we've can have more events. We want
to end up opening the Homos shelter for the LGBT
(15:34):
speaking anything use and there's there's a lot of goals,
but without it, without money, and we can't really get there.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
So you all are very important because I do know
that the suicide rate in this community is very high,
and part of it is because they feel like they
don't have anyone that they can talk to. So I'm
glad you're here, uh you know, and I'm glad that
You're still a voice for this community here in El
Paso and anyone that's wanting to listen again Suncitypride dot org,
follow them, share their events, you know, if you can't
make them, that's a way to just say that they
(16:01):
support you. And Chris, thank you so much for talking
with me today.
Speaker 5 (16:04):
Thank you for having me again.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Welcome back to the Al Pasol Public Forum. I am
your host, Amber Banda, and today we are talking with
Dolores Ituarte Valenzuela, president of the Al Paso gold Star
Families Memorial and gold Star Daughter herself, the Lotus.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Thank you for talking with us today.
Speaker 6 (16:27):
Thank you, Amber. It's an honor to be here and
to share our mission with your listeners. On your episode board,
I really liked gold Star Family, so I want to
thank you for the opportunity to speak to you on
this initiative.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Of course, so al Paso gold Star Family's Memorial initiative.
But first do Lotus, can you explain to the listening
audience what is a gold Star Family member. You're a
gold Star Daughter yourself, what does that mean?
Speaker 6 (16:51):
Yes, so, gold Star Families are immediate family members of
US service members who died in the line of duty.
The tradition goes back to World War One, when families
replaced a blue star with the gold one to honor
their loved ones sacrifice.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
Replaced the star. Where what do you mean?
Speaker 6 (17:11):
Like, Well, in World War One, families were given a
banner with the blue star, and when their loved ones
paid the ultimate sacrifice, that blue star was exchanged for
a gold star, hence the name gold Star Families.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Oh okay, so you have a gold star banner for
your father and the Alpasso Gold Star Families Memorial initiative
what is this.
Speaker 6 (17:35):
Well, we are the passive gold Star Families Memorial is
going to be a tribute to those families, the parents,
the spouses, the siblings and children who have lost someone
in service to our nation.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Okay, that's amazing. And I first heard about you a
few months ago, and I know you've had a few
different fundraisers since, especially with the backer community. But you know,
we know, we know that the al Paso area, the
al Paso City has a deep military heritage. How does
the al Paso Gold Star Families how do they support
(18:10):
families of the fallen and the broader community.
Speaker 6 (18:14):
Yes, thank you for that question. Al Paso is home
to four bliss and a vibrant veteran community. This memorial
is not just a monument. It's going to be a
space for reflection and healing, reminding us all of the
price of freedom. It will give gold Star families a
permanent place to grieve, to honor, and to connect. It
(18:36):
also helps teach future generations about the meaning of sacrifice
and patriotism. So this isn't just what you call a monument,
and it's a space for healing and so pa space
space to come together and connect with other gold Star families.
Our initiative doesn't just end after we construct and build
(18:57):
and dedicate this memorial. It continues to help other gold
Star families connect. We can provide them with resources. As
you know, a lot of times when you lose someone,
especially a military family member, you only have a set
number of days to get everything together, you know, the
(19:19):
funeral regions if you're living on base, if you're living
off post. And sometimes families, because it's a shock and
going through the grief, they don't really know who to
connect with.
Speaker 5 (19:35):
You know.
Speaker 6 (19:36):
Back when I lost my father in nineteen sixty five,
we were living in Caninoia Bay. We were stationed in
Caninoia Bay at the United States Marine Corps there on
o Wahoo Island, And at the time that we received
the news, we were in Demi, New Mexico, where my
mom is from, celebrating Thanksgiving and getting ready for Christmas.
(19:57):
When we received the news on December the eleventh, nineteen
sixty five. Now, think of this, My mother I was
two and a half year old, My sister Ida was
three and a half years old. My mother had thirty
days at that time to get back to Hawaiian, close
up the house, get all the funeral arrangements made back
(20:20):
to the States, receive my dad's body at for Bliss
and so I always my mother has such resilience, having
two baby girls, and the fact that she had the
support of her father and her mother really makes a difference.
But no one knew where to turn to the resources
(20:43):
at that time.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
So what do you think is, you know, you did
explain a little bit about when someone passes away and
you know whether it suddenly or expected, and you know
they have to make funeral arrangements. But there are different
There's differences when it involves military.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
Someone that was in active duty.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
So what are some of those differences that the military
family space where you can step in and provide help
with that.
Speaker 6 (21:11):
Well, we can help them in terms of providing them
with resources needed, you know, how to get in touch
perhaps with the chaplain for Blisz, the different services that
can be provided to them. Things have changed dramatically where
now we do have more resources available, but in the
(21:34):
time of that immediate need, they will know that we
have a place here, no passo, where they can locate
one of us, either a surviving gold Star family member
or a volunteer, community volunteer, different organizations. They're not alone.
In other words, we are facing this together. I did
(21:57):
not know of any other gold Star families growing up,
you know, it wasn't until my father, the United States
Marine Corps sergeantal Berthe Duarte, who was a proud Native
Old Patilin, and he was killed in Vietnam during Operation
Harvest Moon on December eleventh, nineteen sixty five. And so
(22:19):
at that time, again I was just two and a
half years old. And it wasn't until when after we
had a school named in his honor here in two
thousand and seven in the Sacor Independent School District, the
Sargental Berthley Thwarte Elementary School that I started seeing the need.
Their racial of military families at that time was seventy
(22:42):
eight percent of the student population.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Oh wow.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Yes.
Speaker 6 (22:46):
And so in twenty fifteen there was a fiftieth commemorative
memorial health for him at the school and I met
a young girl who had lost her father in Iraq,
and that moment really reinforced my vision to create a
space that honors the journey of all gold Star families.
(23:06):
And so by August of twenty twenty four, with the
support of fellow families and veterans, we formally began building
on this stream. And so, as I stated before, it
encompasses all gold Star families, it encompasses our community, different
organizations and businesses. We all come together to support our military.
(23:29):
And no better place than the veterans capital of the
world of the USA.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
And really is that Alpasa.
Speaker 6 (23:37):
I had no idea.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
So if you're just joining us, we have here do lots.
Ituarree Valenzuela, president of al Paso gold Star Families Memorial
and a gold Star daughter herself.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
So I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
That that this was the veteran capital. Wow, So you
know we're talking right now? About the Al Paso gold
Star Families Memorial initiatives, so raising funds, getting sponsorships, getting
support to build this memorial. So now let's get into
a little bit of the architecture of it. You know,
where is it going to be, what is the vision
(24:09):
for it, and what has what if you rate? Well,
let's start with there before I ask too many questions.
So where is it going to be located and what's
the vision for it?
Speaker 6 (24:16):
Physically absolutely, the memorial has been designed by renowned sculptor
Julio Sanchez de Alva and it's going to be located
next to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Old Glory Memorial
in northeast O Passel. It will be a circular monument
eleven feet high by ten feet in diameter with an
(24:37):
eternal light at the center. Around it will be six
etched panels walking visitors through the gold Star family journey.
This begins with the date of enlistment. The second panel
is the deployment, followed by the notification of next of
ken signified arrival. The fifth panel will be the presentation
(25:01):
of the flag, and certainly the sixth and quite important
at the center will be the gold Star national emblem,
symbolizing both grief and pride. The military branch emblems, the
Purple Heart, and the PLW emblems will also be featured
in full color. And in addition, there will be four
(25:24):
battle crosses representing World War One, World War Two, Korea, Vietnam.
The third one will be for Iraq and Afghanistan, and
we will have one that is left empty. We hope
never to have to fill it, but it's a symbol
of hope and peace, but also shows the readiness to
honor future heroes.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
I love that. That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
And so far, how much have you raised and how
much do you need to need have raised?
Speaker 6 (25:55):
We've raised close to thirty six thousand dollars date, and
we're aiming to continue fundraising until September twenty twenty six,
and to begin fabrication and construction, we need to raise
five hundred and eighty nine thousand dollars by January of
(26:16):
twenty twenty six, because it's going to take about six
to eight months to complete once we've broken ground.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Okay, and so what is your financial goal or when
would you all be ready to break ground on this?
Speaker 6 (26:33):
We're hoping to break ground by January of twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
Okay, okay, so how can the community help you all?
How can the community come and support you?
Speaker 6 (26:45):
Well, we just love to have the community come out
and support us through different events, fundraising events. We've got.
The support has been incredible thus far. Some of our
partnerships and sponsorships that we have include the GC Foundation,
who was actually our first gold partner. We also have
(27:05):
Missiria Roa and Doctor John Joseph Vanderpool who are instrumental
in funding the model that we take with us everywhere.
Another little model of it, Oh, yes, we have.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
You're gonna have to send me.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
You're gonna have to send me a picture of that
so that way you.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Can post it on our social media. Looks fantastic.
Speaker 6 (27:24):
Well, I did send you a three D concept of it,
and so I'll touch base with you afterwards. Please upload it.
It is beautiful. You have to really see this. It's
just going to be such an amazing site, a sacred site,
a space where we can all come together to unite
(27:47):
and celebrate the sacrifices and the lives of our American
heroes and the gold Star families. What people I want,
the audience and the community members and the families to
understand that it is not just the military member that
sacrifices so much, it is also the families left here
(28:10):
at home. You know that many times it's like being
in a single parent household, you know, and the mom
or the dad whoever does stay behind, has to kill
the fort and just make sure that everything is positive
so that they can let their soldier, their marine, their
(28:31):
loved ones know that we've got them. The community is
here to help them during that time as well, you know,
and knowing that if they are killed in the line
of duty, that their families will never be forgotten. You know,
we continue to carry that.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
Load, especially for your mom.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
You're saying that, you know, you lost your dad December
eleventh while he was active DUTE.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
That's a tough time.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
I mean, it's always a tough time to lose someone, right,
but with two young girls. You know, I'm thinking when
my daughters were three and you know, that time, we
were looking forward to Christmas and like you said, you
just celebrated Thanksgiving. So yeah, big shout out, you know,
to your family and putting this together for the community,
and like you said, it's not just a place where
people can go and have something physically to be able to,
(29:17):
you know, cry or give thanks. It's also a place
where they can run into other gold Star families and
have that support and know that they're not alone, because
that's a lot of time people just want to know
that they're not alone.
Speaker 6 (29:27):
Yeah. And like I said, one of the profound for me,
this has been a lifelong vision and a dream. But
the moment that really really reinforced my vision to create
a space to honor the journey of all gold Star
families was when I spoke to that little girl. She
was seven years old and her grandmother was volunteering at
(29:49):
the school to help her process through the grief. But
the little girl had never met anyone who had lost
a parent, and when I was speaking with her, I
felt the I felt that instant connection because sometimes you
feel lost, like where is everybody else?
Speaker 5 (30:08):
You know?
Speaker 6 (30:09):
Yeah, And so just having that connection really built that
vision to continue this work, to carry on and have
an important memorial built here.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
And I'll passo just that one little, you know, interaction.
And I'm really surprised thinking about it now that al Paso,
being such a big military community that it is, doesn't
already have one of these, so we need one of
these and I'll passo.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
You know again.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
The Lotus from Al Paso gold Star Families Memorial Initiative,
and I just want to thank you so much for
talking with me today. We have Facebook EP gold Star
on Instagram EP gold Star Families Memorial the Lotus.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
Thank you so much for talking with us today.
Speaker 6 (30:53):
Thank you. And I also want to thank a couple
of more people, the Nineteenth Rifle Company USM SEE our Foundation,
the American Legion Post thirty six Auxiliary Unit, the Thwart
and Valenzuela Families, Pronto Body Shop, James Valenzuela State Farm
Insurance Agency, Regency Printing, and the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association
(31:17):
for becoming our sponsors and partners as well. And I
like the community. If they have any questions to please
reach out on our Facebook page. If not, for those
of you who do, we will go ahead and post
it on there a number you can reach me at
nine one five three zero nine three six two two
(31:37):
or send us a message through our Facebook page.
Speaker 4 (31:40):
Awesome, Thank you so much, the Lotus.
Speaker 6 (31:42):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
You've been listening to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio l Paso. If you, your
organization or event would like to be featured on an
upcoming program, please email to ep Forum at iHeartMedia dot
com or call us at nine one five three five
one five four zero zero. Tune in again next week
(32:03):
for another additional of El Paso Public Forum. The preceding
program was recorded at the studios of iHeartRadio El Paso,
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