Thoreau group puts focus on veterans

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

THOREAU — The veterans in Thoreau have big plans for their group, called Dio’ayazhi’ Veterans Organization, which was formed in 2005 to receive funding from the Navajo Nation Trust Fund.

The next project for the organization is a motorcycle poker run to raise money for a new flagpole at the Thoreau Chapter House. The poker run starts Sunday at the chapter house and will run through the Eastern Agency, making stops at chapters in Churchrock, Pinedale, Mariano Lake, Smith Lake and Crownpoint, before ending back at the Thoreau chapter.

“The main purpose is to get a flagpole for Thoreau chapter. Nobody is fixing it,” David Henio, commander of the Dio’ayazhi’ Veterans Organization, said.

Thoreau Council Delegate Edmund Yazzie said all bikers are invited to the community to support a good cause. The fee to enter is tentatively set at $15.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. A continental breakfast will be served for bikers in the morning and a light meal for the bikers will be served when the run ends.

During stops at the chapters, bikers will draw cards and the best hand and the worst hand at the end of the run will win a prize.

In a statement, Henio said that the organization honors all bikers across the United States for helping veterans and are proud of the biker organizations.

According to Henio, Thoreau presently has more than 40 veterans who served from World War II to the present day war. In terms of exceptional military service, five Navajo Code Talkers came from the chapter as well as three veterans who were killed in action and three prisoners of war. There are also more than 40 veterans from the community who are deceased.

Information: (505) 862-0139