11Nov2014
First woman to lead American Legion says military should ‘stop sweeping’ sexual assaults ‘under the rug’
When a homeless female veteran came to the first American Legion’s Veterans Benefits center last month in Los Angeles with documents that said she had suffered a sexual trauma in the military, she was able to share her story with a high-ranking woman leader of the veterans group.
She spoke to Verna Jones, the American Legion’s new executive director, and the first woman to lead the veterans organization in its nearly 100-year history. She’s also believed to be the first African-American director.
Jones, an attorney and Army veteran, said she was proud that she was able to offer her personal experience as a woman, to a fellow female veteran. Women are one of the fastest growing segments of veterans entering the military today, she said.
“What I bring is that personal touch, that personal experience,” she said, adding that she once waited 15 hours for a bed at the D.C. VA medical center because there weren’t any beds for women.
A few months ago, the center opened an entire pavilion for women, but that experience still allows her to understand the specific challenges that women veterans face. She started in the post earlier this month, succeeding Peter Gaytan.
Jones wants to push for more “accountability and consequences,” especially when it comes to the sexual harassment and military sexual trauma experienced by many female veterans.
“When I got out of the service in 1995, we didn’t talk about these issues,” she said. “But it got to the point where we had to. We have to stop sweeping it under the rug and pretending it’s a small thing, because it’s not.”
She said she wants to ensure that “anyone who commits such an act faces consequences and doesn’t stay in the military.”
“So we’ve got to create programs, we’ve got to create awareness, and we have to be willing to say that military sexual trauma exists,” she continued. “You sexually assault somebody, then you don’t need to be in the military anymore.”
She also plans to focus on improving the scandal-plagued Department of Veteran Affairs, where thousands of veterans have been waiting for care and benefits.
“We’re still focused on the VA and the quality of health care, timeliness, the backlog, benefits. Access to health care is huge for us,” Jones said in an interview with in her new office.
As director of the Legion’s veterans’ affairs and rehabilitation division in Washington, she was credited by the Legion with helping thousands of veterans secure VA health care and benefits.
The homeless female veteran mentioned earlier was given over $50,000 in retroactive pay.
As executive director of the Legion’s Washington headquarters, Jones will be the group’s liaison to the White House and will oversee Legion relationships with all federal departments, in particular the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Jones is 49 and her appointment comes at a time when the organization has been criticized for being seen as filled with older veterans and many of the those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan see the organization as outdated.
She said she’s proud of the membership and the passion that older veterans have.
“You see them with their oxygen tanks and canes and they are so committed,” she said. “That’s called experience and they don’t stay home in front of the television. They are out still waging the war for veterans. We don’t apologize for who we are and the next generation will be the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. You will see their faces changing. Because you can never replace the passion of the American Legion.”