Tony Reyna’s greatest gift

I met Tony Reyna 15 years ago at his shop at Taos Pueblo. I stopped in to look at the jewelry not knowing the story of this incredible man.

Several years later I took my best friend from college home on leave from the Philippines over to his shop and bought him a ring. I told him Tony’s story and the connection the people of New Mexico have with the Philippine people and places like Bataan and Corregidor. We talked about the suffering and sacrifice made to secure freedom and how it can change the course of our lives and those we love.

I accepted my friend’s invitation to visit him in Subic Bay and my wife and I flew over to visit the following year. I was going to see Bataan for myself and thought about the local connection still living in our villages. I called the Santa Fe Capitol and asked them for a New Mexico state flag and told them I would present it to the curator of the shrine at Bataan.

Yes they consider it a shrine and it is overlooked by a massive cross that you can go up in with a round window viewing the whole battlefield. I also was able to makes copies of photographs of some of the local men who served and sacrificed their lives and present them as well. The monument itself was beautiful and reminded me of Washington, D.C. The names, flags and plaques of various military units including the New Mexico Coastal Battery are on display. Along the road to Bataan there are markers placed by the Philippine government showing the line of retreat to Mount Samaat. It is a slow winding decent like going down from Peñasco to Dixon only with lush jungle on both sides.

At the gift shop I bought a baseball hat with the words “Mt. Samaat” on it and brought it home. I went to see Tony Reyna again and told him of my visit and gave him the hat. He looked at it and said he didn’t wear hats but accepted it anyway. I saw for a brief moment the pain of memory when he said he would never go back to visit. As a retired chaplain, I have seen that look on the faces of men and women who have endured great suffering. I have observed internal battles and seen both victory and defeat. What made the difference between the two was an acceptance and courage to use that suffering to serve others. I did not know Tony Reyna personally, except for the few times we talked, but I knew him by his service and sacrifice.

In this season of giving I am reminded to serve as Tony Reyna did. That was his greatest gift.