Gold Star families carry the memory of fallen loved ones
Navajo Times | Sharon Chischilly
Gold Star mother Isabel Shondee, the mother of U.S. Army Pfc. Harry N. Shondee Jr., and Carlotta Thode, the wife of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class James E. Thode, each hold a plaque Sunday afternoon at Navajo Nation Veterans Memorial Park in Window Rock.
WINDOW ROCK
Nearly 16 years after the knock on her door, Carlotta Thode still makes the drive.
The Aztec, New Mexico, widow came to the Navajo Nation Veterans Memorial Park in Window Rock on Sunday to be honored as a Gold Star spouse. Her husband, Army Sgt. 1st Class James Thode, was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan Dec. 2, 2010.
“No one wants to get that knock at the door,” Thode said. “And that changed my life immensely. I, my kids and I have never been the same.”
The Navajo Hopi Honor Riders held the observance on “Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day,” marked nationally on the last Sunday of September. Two Gold Star families attended, the Thodes and the family of Pfc. Harry N. Shondee of Ganado, Arizona. Shondee’s mother, Isabel Shondee, attended.
To read the full article, please see the Oct. 1, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow