TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — Cherokee Nation leaders will hand deliver hundreds of homemade Valentine’s Day cards to veterans at the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center in Muskogee.
Each year tribal employees as well as area schools, churches and individuals create handmade valentine cards to thank veterans for their military service as part of the tribe’s annual Valentines for Vets program.
This year, valentine cards will be delivered to area veteran centers and hospitals in Tahlequah, Muskogee, Jay, Fayetteville, Sallisaw, Claremore, Vinita and Talihina. The valentine cards will also be given to veterans during an annual Valentine’s Day celebration hosted by the Cherokee Nation Veterans Center this month.
The tribe’s Valentines for Vets program was started in 2008 by the late Rogan Noble, a Marine Corps veteran and veterans affairs advocate. The program provides handmade valentine cards to Cherokee and non-Cherokee veterans and is part of the National Salute to Veteran Patients.
For more information on the Cherokee Nation’s Valentines for Vets program, call the Cherokee Nation Veterans Center at 918-772-4166.