John P. Elliott was a WWII veteran

LOS LUNAS — John P. Elliott was born on Jan. 23, 1909, before New Mexico was even a state.

He served in the U.S. Army in World War II, leaving as a Tec 4. At 62, Elliott died on June 28, 1972, in Las Vegas, Nev., after a long illness, where he had moved four years prior for health reasons.

According to the obituary that ran in the Valencia County News-Bulletin on July 3, 1972, Elliott was the only Valencia County American Legion member to have a lifetime membership. The obituary for Elliott in the Albuquerque Journal notes he was also a member of the Disabled American Veterans and the Veterans of Foreign War in Los Lunas.

He was an active member of the American Legion, and his fellow members served as his pallbearers at his funeral. Elliott is buried at Terrace Grove Cemetery in Belen, where a military headstone marks his grave.

For five decades, local American Legion Post 85 bore his name, until it was renamed for U.S. Air Force Capt. Tamara Long-Archuleta, who died in 2003 while she and her crew with the Komodo 11 Crew attempted to rescue two young children in the war-torn country of Afghanistan.

When reporting on the name change of the post, the News-Bulletin asked post leadership who Elliott was. At that time, Post 85 Commander Cathy Chalk said he was a civilian who donated property to the post.

When the News-Bulletin informed Chalk that Elliott was a World War II veteran a couple weeks ago, she said she was distressed and devastated by the news.

“We are so sorry for the mistake. There was no ill intent,” Chalk said. “We were told by our previous leadership, who started the name-change process, he wasn’t a veteran. They had no malicious intent either. This is so distressing and upsetting.”

An American Legion post can change its name at any time, said Chalk, a veteran herself. The change is approved by a vote of post members, then a written resolution and application is submitted to the state organization.

The person the post is being named for must be deceased, she explained, and the post needs to have a letter supporting the naming from the honorees family. Once the state organization approves the application it’s sent to the national level for review and approval.

“They really don’t look ‘backwards’ during a change request. They look ‘forward’ at eligibility — the application, the resolution, the individual’s name — to verify that it is allowed,” Chalk said. “A post can be named for someone who is not a veteran, so that might be why there wasn’t the assumption (that he was a veteran). I don’t believe they would have intentionally given the wrong information.”

Elliott was a long-time resident of the village of Los Lunas, but he was born in San Marcial, N.M., a small town about 30 miles south of the city of Socorro. San Marcial was struck twice by devastating floods — in August and September of 1929 and again in May 1937 — which combined to eliminate the town.

When he lived in Los Lunas, Elliott and his wife, Cleotilde, were part of a group of veterans and their wives, who were committed to their community and looked to as mentors by some of the teenage boys in the village.

“When we were youngsters, he was with the American Legion,” remembers Frank Gurule, adjutant for Daniel D. Fernandez VFW Post 9676 in Los Lunas.

Elliott was part of a group of veterans Gurule said were “like our mentors here in Los Lunas. They were proud Americans — very proud. They served their country, and they brought that back to Los Lunas.”

At the time, Gurule was 13 or 14 years old, he said, and Elliott was in his 30s. The group as remembered by Gurule — primarily consisted of Elliott, Jack Lovato Sr., Anastacio Luna, Ted Raff, Vivian Otero and Eloy Armijo — “definitely left their mark on the community. They started the Fourth of July parade, the fireworks. Held street dances. They held food drives in the community.”

Elliott’s brother-in-law, Orlando Sedillo, remembers him and the group of men and their community involvement, including the fireworks displays on the playing fields at Raymond Gabaldon Elementary.

“I remember he had a sense of community. I thought of him as a very good man,” Sedillo said. “He was very well known by a lot of people. He was very involved in the community.”

Saying he had a “real passion for the military,” Sedillo remembers Elliott donating a piece of property on Sichler Road to Post 85 so the veterans could have a home. That post is gone now and the land no longer belongs to the Elliott family. Post 85 is now at 3474A N.M. 47 in Los Lunas.

“They were meeting in different places and he eventually gave them a piece of property,” he said. “I remember they brought in an old army barracks. I remember the naming ceremony. It was a big military thing. A lot of veterans were there but I know many have passed away. It’s too bad we’ve lost so much of our history.”

Gurule also remembers the establishment of the post’s home on Sichler, as well as the bingo nights, graduation parties and weddings held there.

“These were people we all looked up to. When we were growing up, in high school a lot of our teachers were veterans. I think that’s why a lot of us joined the service, because of them. Men and women. We had the American Legion Auxiliary (for the women). They were a powerful group and just as active as the men.”

Fluent in both Spanish and English, Elliott served as a local justice of the peace, Sedillo remembered, performing several marriages.

“Just don’t ask me who he married,” he said with a chuckle. “I remember him as being involved in the community, willing to help. Even dressing up as a clown for the Fourth of July parades.”

While Elliott and his peers were looked up to by local youth, Gurule said he never heard the veteran brag about his service or any medals or commendations he might have received.

“A lot of them were pretty humble,” he said. “If Daniel Fernandez were alive, I think he’d be the same.”

Elliott didn’t boast about his service, but it did entitle him to certain honors after his death. The military headstone he rests under is one.

Dicky Romero, owner of Romero Funeral Home in Belen, said there is a process through which someone receives such a grave marker.

“The family provides us with the DD214, their discharge papers, and with that comes everything a veteran is entitled to, including the headstone and flag,” Romero said.

A military headstone is applied for through the Veterans Administration, which makes sure the deceased is eligible for the honor.

Romero said there is very little chance someone who is not a veteran would be interred with such a headstone. Romero Funeral Home handled the arrangements for both John and Cleotilde Elliott, who died at age 89, on Nov. 1, 2016. Cleo is buried in the San Clemente Cemetery in Los Lunas.

Chalk said she has spoken to the post’s executive committee about the error regarding Elliott’s service and, when they meet next, they plan to develop a way to acknowledge Elliott.