The Supreme Sacrifice, Guadalupe County Soldiers is written as a tribute to the brave soldiers from Guadalupe county that made the Supreme Sacrifice in the four wars fought in the Twentieth Century. Also include in the last part are the men who lost their lives from other causes while serving in the armed force of the United States. The Supreme Sacrifice includes forty-eight soldiers who lost their lives in combat or whose deaths were combat related. Five soldiers from Guadalupe county made the Ultimate Sacrifice in defense of liberty in what we now call World War I. World War II claimed the lives of thirty-two brave soldiers from the county. There were three soldiers who gave their lives during the Korean War. The Vietnam War claimed the lives of eight young men from the county. The forty-eight men who made the Supreme Sacrifice are joined by fourteen soldiers who lost their lives in non-combat related incidents. Each of the sixty men in The Supreme Sacrifice have their own stories told in individual vignettes. Also included for many of the brave soldiers are their pictures and other biographical information about them. The men are all listed in alphabetical order under the war in which they served. The only exception was made for Alexander Bonnyman. He is the first soldier listed in the World War II section because he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for his ultimate sacrifice. Several men also have pictures of their mothers, known as Gold Star mothers. The Gold Star mothers also made a sacrifice when their sons lost their lives fighting for our country in defense of liberty. The Gold Star mothers would have to bear the grief of the loss of their sons for the remainder of their lives. The Supreme Sacrifice is a grim reminder that the freedoms we enjoy were made possible by the members of the Armed Forces who shed their blood and paid the highest price that a soldier can offer---their own lives, the Supreme Sacrifice, also sometimes known as the Ultimate Sacrifice. They were destined not to return to America and their loved ones alive.
About the Author: Daniel B. Flores was born in Puerto de Luna, New Mexico in 1946, in the home of his paternal grandfather, Cipriano Flores. That is the same house where Billy the Kid ate his last Christmas dinner in 1880. In 1880 the house belonged to his maternal great-grandfather, Alexander Grzelachowski. Grzelachowski built the house in 1870. Grzelachowski's estate served as a combination residence and mercantile store. A large warehouse was also connected to the rear of the store, complete with a cellar. He is the oldest of thirteen children. The Flores family lived in Puerto de Luna until they moved to Santa Rosa in October 1959. While living in Puerto de Luna, the Flores family Flores attended public schools in Puerto de Luna and Santa Rosa. After graduating from Santa Rosa High School in 1964, he enrolled at the University of New Mexico. He received a BA degree from the University of New Mexico in 1969 and an MA degree in Educational Administration from New Mexico Highlands University in 1984. He returned to Santa Rosa after graduating from UNM in 1969 and was employed by the Santa Rosa Consolidated Schools for over forty years. After working as a teacher for fifteen years, he spent the last twenty-five years of his educational career as an administrator. He served as middle school principal for two years and then was high school principal for seven years. He retired from the school system in July 2009 after working his last sixteen years as the school district's superintendent. He was inducted into the New Mexico Activities Association Hall of Fame in 2002. He was named the New Mexico School Superintendent of the Year in 2007 by the New Mexico School Superintendent's Association. He married his wife, the former Lupita Campos, in 1966. He credits her for helping him complete his college education. They are the parents of Daniel, Jr., Steve and Stephanie. Daniel and Lupita are also the proud grandparents of Marcus and Hannah, the children of Steve and his wife, Tina. The Flores family also welcomed a new grandchild in November 2013, Henry Augustus Flores Boyd, the son of their daughter, Stephanie, and Alex Boyd. The grandchildren bring great joy to him and his wife.