The American Legion recently added a new chapter to its history. Verna Jones has been named the Executive Director. She is the first woman to lead the veterans organization in its 100-year history.
An army veteran, Jones is an attorney who served as the director of the Legion’s veterans affairs and rehabilitation division. Her new role as Executive Director began on November 1. According to Marty Callaghan, a spokesman for the Legion, he could not confirm whether Jones was the first African-American to hold the position of Executive Director.
In an interview with Huffington Post, Jones said, “We’re still focused on the [Department of Veterans Affairs], the quality of health care, timeliness, the backlog, benefits — all the things that we’ve been focusing on, and the things that veterans need. Access to health care is huge for us.”
As you may recall, there has been much discussion about sexxual assault in the military. Jones, as well as other members, have testified before Congress about the need to have a ‘zero tolerance policy.’ Jones went on to say, “To those people who may assault people, [we need to] let them know that we’re not going to stand for that, and there are some very serious consequences the first time. So we’ve got to create programs, we’ve got to create awareness, and we have to be willing to say that military sexxual trauma exists. Stop sweeping it under the rug and pretending it’s a small thing, because it’s not.”
The zero tolerance policy would immediately have consequences. These consequences will be punitive as well as being put out of the military. Many people see the American Legion as an organization filled with older men hanging around Legion Halls. However, what’s not seen are the younger veteran employees working.
On another note, with the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ legislation being lifted by President Barack Obama in 2011, the question was posed about having gays and lesbians at the Hall. Jones added that the organization is happy to have lesbian and gay service members as Legionnaires. She continued: “Our criteria is that you must have served in the military for at least one day of wartime service and been discharged under other than dishonorable conditions. That’s always been like that. I wouldn’t know of anybody who’s been turned away because of those things. The national headquarters would not stand for that.”
