National Guardsmen honored for saving lives during floods in Ruidoso [Video]

Three New Mexico National Guardsmen have received an award for saving the lives of several people while deployed in Ruidoso.Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishman presented the state Medal of Valor to Staff Sgt. David Perez, Sgt. Carlos Mendoza and Specialist Roberto Veledias.”We started off with the fires, checkpoints blocking roads and then we moved on to engineering because we’re with the 20th Engineer Company out of Roswell, New Mexico,” said Perez. “We jumped into operating and then we got trained on water rescues.”Perez and Veledias received the state Medal of Valor for saving the lives of four people at an apartment with a flash flood on the way.”We were clearing out culverts in that area. We’re there with our hydraulic excavator, cleared out some debris, and then they gave us a warning of a 6-foot wall of water coming down,” said Veledias. That’s when the guardsmen jumped into action and devised …