American Legion named after local hero

LOS LUNAS — Just two days after the raucous celebration of our nation’s independence, a quite and somber ceremony recognizing sacrifice and duty was held to rename American Legion Post 85 in Los Lunas.

Chartered 75 years ago, the post now bears the name of U.S. Air Force Capt. Tamara Long-Archuleta, who died in 2003 while she and her team with the Komodo 11 Crew attempted to rescue two young children in the war-torn country of Afghanistan.

American Legion Post 85 is the first in New Mexico to be named for a woman.

Post Commander Cathy Chalk said the idea for the name change precedes her and took about a year to accomplish. Originally named for John P. Elliot, a civilian who donated property to the post, Chalk said members wanted to rename the post in honor of a veteran.

“We thought, ‘What about a female veteran?’ which obviously meant a lot to me,” Chalk said.

Chalk served in the U.S. Air Force from 1982-86 as a personnel specialist. She left the service at the rank of senior airman.

“I wanted to be part of something bigger, to find something with purpose,” she said.

To change the name of Post 85, members first had to get permission from the family, Chalk said, then draft a resolution, which was sent to the national organization for review and approval.

Tamara is the daughter of Richard and Cindy Long, Adelino residents and long-time owners of Goju Ryu Karate, a karate studio in Belen. Her parents and her son, Donnie Archuleta, as well as her uncle, Mike Long, who made a surprise trip from North Carolina for the occasion, were at the ceremony at Daniel Fernandez Memorial Park in Los Lunas this past Saturday.

Richard said the family was touched that, 21-years later, people were still finding ways to honor Tamara and the entire crew that perished that night.

“It’s appropriate this is here at Daniel Fernandez Park, another local who sacrificed himself for his country,” Richard said. “They both believed in the principles of service and sacrifice ... This is harder than I thought it would be.”

Cindy said she felt a bit overwhelmed by the recognition of Tamara.

“On one hand, it’s such an honor for Tammy, but it was the whole crew,” Cindy said. “It’s the yin and yang of life.”

On March 23, 2003, the crew of Komodo 11, assigned to the 41st and 38th Rescue Squadrons, with Tamara, who was 23 years old at the time, as co-pilot, was on a rescue mission on a dark and stormy night when, at 9,000 feet, a tragic accident during a refueling operation took hers and the lives of her five crew members — Lt. Col. John Stein, aircraft commander; Staff Sgt. John Teal, flight engineer; Staff Sgt. Jason Hicks, aerial gunner; Master Sgt. Michael Maltz and Senior Airman Jason Plite, both pararescuemen.

Since her death, Tamara has been honored in several ways here in Valencia County and across the country. A bench at Eagle Park in Belen bears her name. There’s a large stone memorial at the UNM-Valencia campus, where she was valedictorian in 1997. There are two landing zones named for the hometown hero — one at the Girl Scout Camp in Cuba, N.M., and another at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Ga., where she was stationed before being sent to Afghanistan.

The landing zone in Georgia, Richard says, is only used to practice hovering because there’s a pond there with an alligator in it and they don’t want to land there.

“Their public affairs officer called us on the anniversary of her death and said they always talk about Tammy and the Komodo 11 Crew and the crash,” he said. “They use it as a lesson to learn. But he told us that he thinks that alligator is Tammy, just daring people to land at her landing zone.”

Her parents honor her every year with the annual Capt. Tamara Long-Archuleta Memorial Open Karate Championships held every October. Since 2005, the tournament has raised tens of thousands of dollars for scholarships for local students, especially those who were home schooled like Tammy.

In a 2019 News-Bulletin article, Cindy remembered how, as a small child, Tammy was interested in politics, even writing an award-winning essay about how she could one day see herself being president of the United States. That was the year Richard, Cindy and Donnie traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the White House in honor of Gold Star Families, which is a family that has an immediate family member who died while serving in the military.

During his time as an Air Force Pararescue Specialist, Tamara’s uncle, Mike, got to know several people who knew his niece during her time in the Air Force.

“They said she was a consummate professional,” Mike said. “They described her as ‘a good stick.’ That’s the ultimate complement. She was a damned good pilot.”