2018 El Paso County Veteran of the Year
Victor Fernandez
El Paso County’s Veterans Service Office announces Victor M. Fernandez is the 2018 Veteran of the Year.
Fernandez has been working on bringing the Pikes Peak National Veterans Cemetery to the region for the past several decades. He has been the driving force behind project, serving as Chair of the local cemetery committee. This effort led to the purchase of a 350-acre site off of Drennan Road that will become the national cemetery for our Veterans. This site will be sufficient to bury or intern 95,000 veterans and their spouses.
Fernandez has worked tirelessly with national, state and local leaders to ensure that the cemetery became a reality. This included securing legislative approval and the needed funding, reviewing multiple sites, making the final site selection, and initiating the design for the cemetery.
Now that the Pikes Peak National Cemetery is a reality and Fernandez has stepped down as chairman of the Cemetery Committee; The “Support Committee at Pikes Peak National Cemetery” has been established and will continue to support the Pikes Peak National Cemetery.
Fernandez is a lifelong Colorado resident, born and raised in Trinidad. His family has roots going back more than 150 years. His great grandfather fought in the Civil War. His father was a World War II Veteran and his father-in-law served in the Pacific during World War II and was on General MacArthur’s staff during the Korean conflict, and is interred at Ft. Logan National Veterans Cemetery in Denver.
Fernandez graduated from West Point in the class of 1959 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the artillery. He met his wife Sherry at Fort Carson in 1960, where they were married in 1961.
During his thirty year military career, Fernandez served two tours in Panama, two in Vietnam, two in Germany, and a variety of stateside posts. He is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College and Army War College. His numerous military awards include the Defense Superior Service medal, the Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Defense and the Meritorious Service Medal.
Since retiring from the Army in 1989, Fernandez has remained active in Colorado Springs Veterans affairs, serving as President of the Pikes Peak Chapter of Military Officers of Association of America, founding member of the Southeast Family Center and Armed Services YMCA, founding member of the Board of Directors for the Home Front Cares, and Team Leader of a group welcoming our Hungry Heroes airplanes returning from the combat theaters in Iran and Afghanistan.
