George Willie Sr. Memorial Stand Down to deliver health, housing services for Diné veterans
WINDOW ROCK
Health care remains the biggest gap for Navajo veterans, said Gilbert Chee, the commander of the Leupp Veterans Organization.
On Oct. 3, the George Willie Sr. Memorial Veterans Stand Down at Twin Arrows Navajo Casino Resort’s Diné Event Center will bring medical providers, housing representatives and other services together in one place.
The event, now in its third year, honors the late Navajo Code Talker George Willie Sr., from Leupp, Arizona, who died on Dec. 5, 2017. Organizers say the gathering has become one of the most important outreach efforts for veterans in northern Arizona, particularly those living in the Navajo Nation, where access to services is limited.
“George Willie Sr. was our code talker from Leupp. He was in World War II. So that’s why we’re celebrating. It’s in honor of him and his memory,” said Chee, a U.S. Army veteran who served from 1974 to 1977. He is Hashk’ąą Hadzohó and born for Tł’ááshchí’í. “But out of the Original 29, I think we had two of them from Leupp. His (Willie’s) family’s very involved.”
The late Balmer Slowtalker, also known as Joe Palmer, and Nelson S. Thompson, both members of the Original 29 Navajo Code Talkers, were from Leupp.
Health care a priority
Chee said veterans frequently must travel off the Navajo Nation to get specialized treatment. “Basically, the health care. That’s the thing we lack on the reservation. They (veterans) have to go off the reservation to get the proper health care. And the way we’re helping right now is we have those providers, insurance companies come to our stand down. They have booths. They have all the information that needs to be completed,” he said.
Clinics in Tuba City, Winslow and Dilkon provide outpatient services, but Chee said they are not set up to handle major medical procedures.
The Northern Arizona VA Health Care System, based in Prescott, Arizona, has increased its outreach in response. Since June, the health care system has held 19 veteran resource events in Navajo communities, sending its mobile health clinic each time to deliver primary care on site. Three more visits are planned by the end of September. The health care system also recently earned a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for the third consecutive year, reflecting high marks in safety, patient experience and timely care.
To read the full article, please see the Sept. 11, 2025, edition of the Navajo Times.
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Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow