Amy King, a detention officer in Tarrant County, Texas, and member of Donald N. Thompson Post 655 in Haltom City, is a shining example of veterans continuing to serve veterans and their communities. She was awarded the Community Service Ribbon and Humanitarian Ribbon from the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office.
She works 60+ hours a week for the Sheriff's Department but still finds time to be an outstanding Legionnaire.
She is a service officer and currently the adjutant at Post 655. She assists veterans in navigating the VA benefits system and shows great compassion to her fellow veterans. As adjutant, she is responsible for the meeting minutes and the general record-keeping of the post such as maintaining our insurance documents, state documents, health department records and membership. She processes all the memberships every year and is one of a handful of adjutants in the Department of Texas to achieve 100 percent membership each year she has served in that capacity.
In addition to these officer responsibilities she assists with Saturday morning breakfast, Wednesday lunch for veterans, and fundraising dinners throughout the week.
In addition to her duties at the local post she is also District 12 Judge Advocate, where she utilizes her paralegal degree to provide procedural advice for all 10 posts in the 12th District and assists in any investigation or disciplinary action when a Legionnaire has violated policy.
Her dedication and heartfelt desire to serve veterans and the programs of The American Legion have allowed her to be recognized at the state and national level, where she is the first woman to serve on the Texas American Legion Development Foundation Board of Directors.
To honor her father’s service in the Vietnam War, she is also a dual member and assists and volunteers with American Legion Auxiliary Unit 655. She averages 20 volunteer hours a week, which averages 960 hours a year. Her dedication and service are why she has been awarded many accolades including Legionnaire of the Year for Post 655 for 2023, and a special recognition from the Auxiliary for spearheading a holiday food drive for underserved military families at JRB Naval Air Station Fort Worth.
She is involved in the Tarrant County initiative to combat homelessness, specifically homeless veterans. She has received her certification to work with homeless veterans through the Patriot House, an operation of Presbyterian Night Shelter. She participates each year in the veteran homeless standdown run by VA, where several hundred homeless veterans are identified and provided with clothing, boots, and the opportunity to get health and mental services. Though she was in the middle of her academy training last fall, she was able to squeeze the time in to help with the unloading of supplies for the standdown and took her lunch break to come over to work with veterans.
She is a veteran of both the U.S. Navy and Army. She does both of those military branches proud with her continued service to America as an outstanding Legionnaire.