Robert McDaniel, former historian at the Animas Museum, noted in a paper about the men that Post No. 28<\/a> was originally named for Sheets, and on Oct. 8, 1930, Legion members voted to add Trujillo\u2019s name to recognize the \u201cgreat many Spanish and Mexican boys\u201d who served in WWI.<\/p>\n Trujillo\u2019s family moved to Durango from Taos, New Mexico. His father worked in a smelter, and the family soon turned to farming and sheep ranching south of Durango.<\/p>\n Sheets, McDaniel wrote, was \u201ca blue-blooded Durango native, the son of a prominent pioneer La Plata County family.\u201d According to McDaniel, Sheets grew up in a log cabin overlooking the Animas River, where north City Market now stands.<\/p>\n In the past century, a lot has changed, but the mission of Post No. 28, which received its charter during President Woodrow Wilson\u2019s administration on Aug. 25, 1919, remains pretty much the same, said Donna Jones, president of Auxiliary Unit No. 28.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re here to improve the lives and assist with the needs of our veterans and their families,\u201d she said. \u201cAll the vets and their families. The ones who come home and the ones who didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Post No. 28, 878 East Second Ave., is also a gathering place for veterans and their families, Jones said.<\/p>\n Nationwide, she noted, local American Legion posts have provided college scholarships to veterans\u2019 children and support the Boys and Girls State summer programs to teach students about the legislative process. The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation has provided $7 million nationwide to meet the needs of children of deceased and disabled veterans.<\/p>\n Jones said her great-grandson, Ethan Cooper, 4, is a direct beneficiary of the Child Welfare Foundation. The boy was born at risk for sudden infant death syndrome, and the foundation paid for a $1,500 monitor that helped save his life when he stopped breathing as an infant.<\/p>\n \u201cMy granddaughter called and said, \u2018It worked. The alert worked, grandma.\u2019 He had stopped breathing, and she gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He\u2019s alive today \u2013 happy and healthy as can be.\u201d<\/p>\n The American Legion\u2019s main mission is to help vets in myriad ways, Jones said.<\/p>\n If a vet faces a major home repair job or if someone in the family is sick and the family needs help with medical bills, Jones said the American Legion is there for them.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s a need, help is there. It\u2019s just a matter of letting people know and figuring out what we can do. And we can tap into the American Legion nationwide, too,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n More benefits also come with being a member of the American Legion, such as discounts for hotels and rental cars.<\/p>\n The American Legion supports lobbyists in Washington to help veterans with their needs and to lobby Congress to improve programs serving veterans.<\/p>\n In 2013, two bartenders at Post No. 28 were accused of assaulting a 22-year-old woman. One man later pleaded guilty to kidnapping and attempted sexual assault. The second pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence.<\/p>\n The long-term consequence of the incident, Jones said, was that Post No. 28 had to regain the trust of the community.<\/p>\n The bar supports itself financially, and additional proceeds go toward maintenance and American Legion programs, Jones said.<\/p>\n Some people, she said, avoid the bar, thinking it\u2019s a \u201cbunch of old guys sitting around sharing war stories.\u201d But, she said, most veterans rarely speak about what they\u2019ve been through, and the bar is a place where they can find camaraderie.<\/p>\n Many vets from Afghanistan and Iraq, Jones said, are leery of the American Legion, but she encourages anyone from the community to drop by to find out what the American Legion offers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a private club, so the door will be locked, but ring the buzzer and we\u2019ll tell you about what we are and what we do, and we\u2019ll buy you a beer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n parmijo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n American Legion Trujillo-Sheets Post No. 28 will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a steak dinner from 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 20 at the post, 878 East Second Ave. \u2018We\u2019re here to improve the lives of our veterans\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":74275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6104,5905,5740,5736,5735,5808],"tags":[364,568,13,445],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-74274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-news","category-events","category-frontpage-lead","category-local-news","category-news","category-newsletter-lead","tag-community","tag-events","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-newsletter-lead"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74274"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92515,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74274\/revisions\/92515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74274"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=74274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}If you go<\/h4>\n
\n The dinner costs $12 and will include a New York strip steak, baked potato and salad.
\n Local historian Robert McDaniel will give a presentation about Jose Enrique Trujillo and Wiley Sheets, two Durangoans who were killed in World War I and for whom Post No. 28 is named.
\n Donna Jones, president of Auxiliary Unit No. 28, requests RSVPs by Sept. 10. They can be emailed to donnahardin@msn.com<\/a> \u2013 include \u201cLegion Dinner\u201d in the subject line.
\n Or people can RSVP by calling Post No. 28 at (970) 247-1590 or Jones at (970) 903-2424.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"