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The halls of the Arizona State Veteran Home in Flagstaff were overflowing with activity last Thursday morning as dozens of service providers welcomed more than 150 veterans from across Coconino County to the 13th annual Lance Davison Memorial High Country Stand Down.

The event is an opportunity for veterans of all ages to connect with assistance in housing, employment, healthcare and more -- and to connect or reconnect with one another, attendees noted. It takes place each year in May, which is both National Military Appreciation Month and Mental Health Awareness Month.

This was the first year the Stand Down has taken place at the veterans home on Gemini Drive. (Previous editions were held in the Arizona National Guard Armory building near Thorpe Park.)

Cameron Farr, the home’s administrator and a Marine Corps veteran himself, was thrilled by the turnout.

“It’s wonderful. It really is,� Farr said. “The Marine Corps is a melting pot; [the] military in general is a melting pot. You get people from all over the place. And that’s what I’m seeing here, people from every walk of life here just to support veterans. It’s phenomenal.�

The home will continue to host the event in 2026, Farr said. 

The name of the event honors Sgt. Lance Davison, a Marine Corps veteran and former Flagstaff police officer who took his own life in 2014. Prior to his death, Lance Davison had been a vocal advocate for veterans� mental health, speaking up to encourage other veterans to accept assistance in transitioning to civilian life.

Lance’s father John Davison helped organize the first High Country Stand Down in 2012, before Lance died. In the years since, John has expanded his efforts, coordinating Stand Down events in Williams, the Verde Valley and Page. Each event, he noted, is named in honor of a different local veteran.

“Families, they like to see that something is being done in the memory of their son or daughter that they’ve lost,� Davison said. “These Stand Downs are a good way to do that.�

He added: “That’s what these kids would want us to do in life. They would want us to be helping veterans.�

A wide array of service providers stationed the tables along the building’s hallways: the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) and the Arizona Department of Veterans� Services (DVS); the Coconino County Public Defender’s Office; Northern Arizona University’s Veterans and Military Services; the Flagstaff Family Food Center; Catholic Charities Community Services; Native Americans for Community Action; and many more. Information was available about everything from legal advice to hospice care.

Judge Stacy Krueger of the Coconino County Superior Court was also in attendance, prepared to quash outstanding warrants if possible. Krueger also serves as the judge for the Coconino County , a specialized program intended to assist veterans involved in the criminal justice system by connecting them to services and support as they move through the process of sentencing and rehabilitation.

“We have a number of individuals who are in our program who have a lot of challenges related to PTSD, substance use disorder issues, that are related to their service to our country, so we want to make sure we help them as much as they’ve helped our country,� Krueger said. “We’ve had some really good success in our program.�

“We have individuals who say, really, it’s changed the course of their life,� she continued. “Everyone who’s in the veterans� treatment court feels really honored to be able to help folks get back on track who have served our country. I’m thrilled to be a part of it.�

Harry Thompson, a Marine veteran who served in the 1970s, had driven in for the day from Leupp. Thompson came well-prepared: he was pulling a four-wheeled collapsible cart, into which he’d loaded one of the bags of dog food that staff of the Nestle Purina factory were distributing outside, along with other free items such as socks and toiletries.

“There are a lot of services that are available. You just have to look around, see the ones that you need,� Thompson said. “A lot of good help. It’s worth coming.�

While helping himself to the day’s free donuts and coffee -- courtesy of the local Dunkin� Donuts and the Salvation Army -- “Solo,� who served with the Marine Corps from 1976 to 1986, said he appreciates the chance to see “my fellow servicemen, my fellow Marines.�

“We love being together. We’re kindred spirits,� he said.

He also praised the veterans home in Flagstaff, calling it a “beautiful, beautiful facility.�

“I’m new to the State of Arizona,� Solo said, “but I’m beginning to see that they really, really take care of their veterans here. And I really appreciate that.�

He was grateful, he said, for the help he’d received from multiple organizations in finding permanent housing. (He was set to move in on Tuesday, May 20.)

“Every organization here helps uplift us, and helps us to help ourselves,� Solo added.

Flagstaff’s Kuttz Barbershop and College was providing free haircuts -- always a high-demand service, according to Davison. U.S. Army veteran Don Coleman was one of those waiting his turn for a trim and joked that the barber was going to “give me a bald head.�

Coleman had traveled from Page that morning, he said. He’d attended previous Stand Down events when they were held at the armory and appreciated the chance to see other veterans from different parts of the Navajo reservation.

“I used to bring my grandkids and everybody, but they’re all in school today,� Coleman said.

Many of the day’s attendees were Navajo.

Native Americans serve in the U.S. Armed Forces at a disproportionately high rate, but Native veterans also experience housing insecurity, disability and unemployment at higher rates.

Wayne Curley, a U.S. Army National Guard veteran who lives on the Navajo Nation near Page, said the trip to the Stand Down in Flagstaff was “well worth it.�

Still, he wishes that veterans� services were more available where he lives.

“It’s better if it’s there and it’s readily accessible, especially to the old-timers,� Curley said. “These young guys, I’m pretty sure they can thumb it and hitchhike and walk there. � I’m more concerned of our elderly and people who are disabled.�

He also noted the challenge of trying to help veterans in his community whose war experiences left them mistrustful of the government in general -- “people that are seriously traumatized from being in Afghanistan or being in Iraq that don’t want to do anything with government, don’t want to do anything with Veterans Affairs,� he said. “We still have those folks.�

It’s a delicate process trying to reach out to those individuals through friends or family, or to convince them to accept any sort of assistance.

“We are trying. We are trying,� Curley said.

Enrollment and eligibility

Enrollment in the VA’s system is a prerequisite for most government benefits, and the VA and DVS tables were busy all day during the Stand Down. Benefits counselors were working with veterans who hadn’t yet gone through the process.

Craig Furst, an outreach coordinator for the VA, said only about 50% of attendees at any given Stand Down event are already enrolled with the VA.

And even fewer are “service-connected� -- meaning they’ve established a link between disabilities or other conditions and their military service.

Older veterans in particular, Furst said, might not realize what benefits or services they might be able to receive and are less likely to have completed the process of establishing their eligibility.

The veterans home itself is confronting that gap between potential and proven eligibility. There are specific requirements for anyone seeking a bed there: they must have a service-connected disability rating of 70% or higher as determined by the VA and a need for 24-hour care, as certified by a physician.

Farr said he’s received numerous referrals for the home’s open beds, but most applicants had not completed the VA certification processes necessary to prove eligibility. “That’s been devastating,� he said.

Farr and Furst both encouraged veterans or their families to go through the process of enrollment and proving a service connection in order to ensure they’re receiving all the assistance available to them.

Davison, similarly, urged veterans of all ages to claim the benefits they earned. Despite some recent concerns about federal cuts to the VA's budget and staffing -- which Arizona Sens. and have been vocal in opposing -- Davison said the level of service in this region “has never been better.�

“Any young veteran, Iraqi, Afghanistan War veterans � . You earned it,� Davison said. “You qualify for these services, so take advantage of it, because it’s never been better.�

“If you’re a veteran and you think you have a service-related disability or something happened to you in the service that you need to be seen about, now’s the time to go,� he added.

Raising awareness

Davison is also planning to honor the anniversary of 9/11 and raise awareness for mental health and suicide prevention. Members of the ROTC program at Northern Arizona University will participate in a 22-kilometer “ruck,� or weighted march, carrying 22-pound packs. (The number 22 references a VA study, released in 2013, that found an average of 22 veterans per day died by suicide in the United States.)

The event will also include a 22K and a 5K run, and a 1K community walk. Additional information is available on the High Country Stand Down Facebook page: .