James Garley joined the U.S. Army on June 25, 1964.  He served in the military for three years, one of those years being in the Republic of South Vietnam.  Although he is very proud of his service in Vietnam, like most Vietnam veterans, James does not share much about his Vietnam service.  After his release from military service, he joined the Los Lunas Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Post 9676, named after his friend and classmate, Medal of Honor recipient, Daniel D. Fernandez.  Prior to their enlistment, Daniel and James attended Los Lunas High School together.  James is a lifetime member of VFW Post 9676 and held every officer’s position in this local organization prior to becoming Post Commander.  James joined the VFW because he wanted to continue to provide Public Service to the residents of his beloved Valencia County.  James was the Commander of this Post for two decades. It was only after he felt that he could no longer meet his obligations as Commander, due to illness that he declined to accept his nomination as Post Commander.  Just because he is no longer the leader of VFW Post 9676 does not mean that he has lost interest in keeping up with its project, programs and activities. Although not known by many, James retired from government service after working for the Veterans Administration for many years.  James is now on hospice; however; during his over fifty years of public service, as a government employee and especially as Commander of VFW Post 976, James was recognized, honored, and provided many awards and accolades.