Autrey James (left) and Michael Raska pose for a photo during the Student Veterans of America national convention in Los Angeles Jan. 3-5. (Photo: Autrey James)
We posed two simple questions to Autrey James, leading candidate for American Legion Department of California commander (2020-21), after his attendance at the Student Veterans of America national convention in Los Angeles Jan. 3-7. SVA “NatCon,” as it’s called, brought together student veterans from 1,500 schools and a pool of more than 750,000 student veterans across the country to discuss issues affecting them. To learn more about those issues, visit Student Veterans of America online.
Why is it important that veterans have an organization like Student Veterans of America and what can they can stand to gain from sticking together as veterans?
I was a student veteran and when I was in the process of attaining my education, there were no organizations on campus for vets. It’s great to have a veterans organization on campus for several reasons. First, what benefits are available and how do I get them? I was all alone in the process of trying to find out what was available to me. These campus veteran organizations bring staff advisors who are knowledgeable about what’s available to vets.
Second, the camaraderie is so important when you are several years older than the normal college student, raising a family, dealing with work issues and tying to make sure you get the most out of class. Veterans often get frustrated with their non-vet classmates, who are typically younger and inexperienced. I know I did. It would have been nice to have a veteran (battle buddy) who understood what I was going through and someone to share frustrations with.
What does the American Legion stand to gain from having student veterans in its ranks?
That is easy. These students are the future leaders and policy makers in our country. Look at Congress and how many veterans have entered into that institution in the last few years. That trend is going to continue. If they are going to be making policy, it makes sense to get them into the organization so they can see from the ground floor what we are doing and why our legislative agenda is so important to veterans.
The old guard of the Legion has an expiration date like each one of us and if this organization is going to survive another 100 years we have to bring these student vets into the fold. We need to hear their voices on how we need to adjust the mission to include this group of veterans that have been fighting the longest war in United States history with no end in sight, unfortunately. We need them to help us understand how to combat the 22 daily veteran suicides. We need their voices to make sure we are addressing all the needs of all our veterans, those from past wars and conflicts and those from the current conflicts.
Author: Jared Morgan
Jared is the senior editor and web team lead for the Department of California and chair of its Media & Communications Commission. He became a member of the American Legion in 2014 when he joined Palisades Post 283 to find stories about veterans issues for a local newspaper while working as its news editor. He was soon brought in as 283's assistant adjutant and historian to help produce the post's award-winning community newspaper. Since then, Jared has used his media skills to help further the efforts of The American Legion in its advocacy of veterans and their families. Jared has also worked for several years to help revitalize the 100-year-old Santa Monica Post 123, formerly as its adjutant and as a member of its executive board, before transferring back to Post 283.