On Saturday, April 25, 2026, the Alamogordo community is invited to Patron's Hall to welcome home two local veterans returning from an Honor Flight mission to Washington, D.C. The event, hosted by Rio Grande Honor Flight, begins at 7:00 PM and asks every attendee to bring their American flags, welcome home banners, and all the patriotism they can carry — because these are, as the organizers put it, "forgotten heroes" who deserve to feel loved and honored in their hometown.

The community will welcome home Chris Hall and Lucio Vazquez — two men whose service spanned some of the most turbulent chapters of American military history. Their stories, one shaped by family sacrifice and one by fire in the skies over Vietnam, are a testament to the lasting bonds forged in service to this country.