New Mexico Minuteman - Spring 2012 - Keep Trees

Luna served New Mexico well
By Spc. Charles Martinez
200th Public Affairs Detachment
Maximiliano Luna was born in Los
Lunas, N.M., June 16, 1870. He was educated
at Las Vegas College in Las Vegas,
N.M., (which was later moved to Denver,
Colo., and named Regis University), and at
Georgetown College, District of Columbia.
Upon completing his course at Georgetown,
Luna received an appointment to
the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md.
Just as he was ready to begin his studies at
Annapolis, his mother died, and his plans
changed. He made a tour to Cuba, after
which, in December 1889, he returned to
his home in New Mexico.
He was married around 1890 to Berenice
Mary Keyes, granddaughter of Lucien
B. Maxwell, one of the largest landowners
in the Territory. Her younger brother Maxwell
had several things in common with his
brother-in-law Maximiliano Luna. They both
served as Rough Riders in Troop F (Keyes
provided testimony in support of Theodore
Roosevelt’s Medal of Honor). They both
served in the Philippines; both died there
(Keyes died six days after Luna); and both
are buried in the same cemetery.
On the April 15, 1945, Maj. Gen. Keyes
visited the 804th Tank Destroyer Battalion
(New Mexico National Guard) along with Lt.
Gen. John C. H. Lee (Deputy Commander
of U.S. Forces in the European Theater of
Operations). The 804th was in fi ring position
in the Po Valley. With Lee acting as
artillery loader on one of B Company’s (from
Raton, N.M.) guns, Keyes fi red the Battalion’s
200,000th round at the Germans.
Berenice’s youngest brother Geoffrey
was commanding general of the 3rd
Armored Division, 9th Armored Division, I
Armored Corps, II Corps, Seventh United
States Army during World War II, and the
Third United States Army immediately
afterward. He retired as a lieutenant general
and is also buried in the same cemetery
as his brother and brother-in-law.
In 1890 Luna was appointed interpreter
of the Second Judicial Court of the Territory;
in 1891 he was chief clerk of the
Twenty-ninth Assembly of New Mexico,
and in 1892 he was elected probate clerk,
recorder and ex offi cio county clerk of
Valencia County until 1894, when he was
elected sheriff of the county. He served as
delegate to several territorial Republican
conventions; in 1890 he was the organizer
of the Republican League of the county,
and in 1892 he was a delegate to the
National Republican League.
He served as Captain for Troop “F” of
the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, popularly
known as “Rough Riders.” In 1899 he
served as speaker of the House of Representatives
for the Territory of New Mexico.
He joined the 34th U.S. Volunteer Infantry
and was sent to the Philippines as a fi rst
lieutenant. It was there that he died on duty
on Nov. 18, 1899. He was buried in Arlington
National Cemetery, one of the fi rst New
Mexicans so honored.
Among the honors bestowed on his memory by the state of
New Mexico are the following:
• A bust of Luna has been placed in the
state Capitol.
• In 1929, the training site for the New
Mexico National Guard outside of
Las Vegas, N.M., was named Camp
Maximiliano Luna in his honor. In 1967
the state Legislature authorized a
vocational training facility to be built
in the area, and the site chosen was
Camp Luna. In 1969 the school was
established under the name of the Luna
Vocational Technical Institute.
• A memorial to him at the Luna Vocational
Technical Institute was rededicated in
June 1987 and stands in front of the
Technologies Building. It faces the school
campus and former training grounds of
the National Guard.
• The current name of the campus, Luna
Community College, was adopted on
Dec. 18, 2000.
Spring 2012 / NEW MEXICO National Guard 27