After careful consideration of several names submitted to the post, Jose Belarmino Nickerson was selected as a tribute to the gallant men who gave their lives in World War II.
Jose Nickerson paid the supreme sacrifice when he gave life in a Japanese prison camp in the South Pacific. His reported death was caused by Malaria.
Jose was born at Lone Tree near Dyke and raised at Pagosa Junction by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Pedro Sanchez.
He joined the US Army in 1941 and lost his life June 11th, 1943. He was the third casualty during WWII from this county and the first to lose his life on enemy soil. The American Legion was organized in Pagosa Springs in 1920 and named Lester W. Mullins in honor of Pagosa's first casualty of WWI.
It is customary of all American Legion posts in America to name their organizations after servicemen who performed above and beyond the call of duty from their area. Therefore, the American Legion Post of Archuleta county shall hereafter be known as the Mullins-Nickerson Post 108.
From The Pagosa Springs SUN.
Gravesite photo courtesy of Ann Oldham.
Note: Internet research indicates some conflict as his place of birth is listed in some records as San Juan County, NM. The gravestone also has a date of death different from that reported by the SUN.
